f'A. 


,  University  of  California. 

FROM    THF.    l.IHKAKY    OF 

DR.     FRANCIS     LIEUER, 
Professor  of  History  and  Law  in  Columbia  College,  New  York. 


T1IK   CUKT   OF 


MICHAEL     REESE 

( )f  San  Francisco 


i 


THE  SOUTH  VINDICATED 


FROM  THE 


TREASON  AND  FANATICISM 


NORTHERN  ABOLITIONISTS. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED    BY    H.    MANLY. 
1836. 


?•   -     *  »As^ 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

THE  following  work,  having  been  undertaken 
solely  with  the  view  of  vindicating  the  South  from 
the  calumnies  of  the  abolitionists,  and  of  directing 
public  attention  to  the  origin  and  nature  of  Domes 
tic  Slavery,  and  to  the  facts  connected  with  the 
question  of  Emancipation — it  was  considered  ad 
visable  to  present  it  to  the  public  as  early  as  possi 
ble.  The  very  brief  period  allowed  the  author  in 
preparing  the  volume  for  the  press,  necessarily 
precluded  much  attention  to  grace  of  style,  or 
propriety  of  arrangement.  He  has  sought  to  pre 
sent  the  prominent  features  of  this  important  subject 
to  the  attention  of  the  public,  in  a  plain,  distinct,  and 
intelligible  manner.  If  he  has  succeeded — if  he 
has  aided,  even  in  the  slightest  degree,  in  unmask 
ing  the  evils  and  dangers  of  Emancipation,  as  now 
urged  by  the  fanatics  of  the  North — the  writer  has 
attained  his  sole  object — and  is  content. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION  -.!  •  -'.'      .-',.  IK.)      r        -         -         13 

CHAPTER  I. 

Origin  of  Slavery — Slavery  among  the  Ancients — either 
voluntary  or  involuntary — Involuntary  Slavery — from  War — 
Piracy — Crime — Bargain  and  Sale  : ,'.--  -  .  -  19 

CHAPTER  II. 

Slavery  among  the  Ancients  continued — Voluntary  Slavery 
— Roman  Mercenarii — Grecian  Prodigals — German  Enthu 
siasts — Condition  of  Slaves — Power  and  Inhumanity  of  Mas 
ters  27 

CHAPTER  III. 

Slave-trade — Origin — Progress — Mode  of  collecting  Slaves 
— African  co-operation — Transportation  of  Slaves — Extent  of 
Trade — Abolition  -.-,.,. 32 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Origin  of  Slavery  in  this  country — Common  to  all  the  Colo 
nies — Cause  of  present  exemption  of  northern  states  from 
a  slave  population — Progress  of  importation  of  slaves  into 
the  Colonies — Great  numerical  superiority  of  Slaves  in  the 
South — Comparative  progress  of  Population — Insurrection  of 
Slaves — Abolition  of  the  slave-trade  by  states — Constitutional 
provisions  on  the  subject — Abolition  of  slave-trade  by  Con 
gress — Course  of  the  South  in  relation  to  the  slave-trade  40 
1* 


VI 

CHAPTER  V. 

America  not  responsible  for  the  Introduction  of  slavery  into 
this  country — Course  of  Great  Britain — Slavery  in  England 
— White  captives  exported  by  the  English  to  the  Colonies — 
African  slavery  introduced  into  this  country  by  England — 
Trade  sanctioned  and  enforced  by  government — Aversion  of 
the  Colonies^ — Ineffectual  remonstrances  and  resistance — In 
structions  to  colonial  governors — British  slave-trade  one  of 
the  causes  of  American  rebellion  ...  47 

CHAPTER  VI, 

English  slave-trade — Extent — Cruelty — Motives  of  abolition 
— selfish  and  hypocritical — Violation  of  the  law  abolishing 
the  trade — West  India  emancipation  57 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Slavery  in  this  country — Extent — Productiveness — North 
ern  labourers  and  Southern  slaves — Education  of  Negroes — 
Religion — Slaves  protected  by  law — Treatment  of  Slaves — 
Testimony  of  different  writers  66 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Slavery  considered — The  right,  of  man  to  hold  his  fellow 
man  in  bondage — Exposition  of  the  phrase  "all  men  created 
free  and  equal"— Blackstone,  and  Professor  Dew  in  reply — 
Admitted  by  writers  on  national  law — Justifiable  in  this  coun 
try  from  peculiar  circumstances  under  which  it  exists,  and  the 
impracticability  of  emancipation — The  debtor  in  the  North  a 
slave — Laws  of  every  country  justify  a  certain  state  of  do 
mestic  bondage  80 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Slavery  considered  in  continuation — Sanctioned  by  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  and  accordant  with  the  precepts  arid 
spirit  of  Christianity 88 


Vll 

CHAPTER  X. 

Slavery  considered  in  continuation — Influence  of  slavery— 
on  civilization — on  the  female  sex — on  morality — on  the  po 
litical  character  and  destinies  of  a  country — on  our  country — 
Insincerity  of  abolitionists — Influence  on  the  character  of  the 
citizens  of  the  South — Testimony  of  Burke — Influence  on 
the  character  of  the  people  of  Greece  and  Rome — Induces 
political  independence  and  intelligence — Consequences  of  the 
peculiar  complexion  of  the  slave — Necessity  of  Negroes  for 
the  cultivation  of  the  South — Free  and  slave  labour — Pros 
perity  and  prospects  of  the  South  ....  100 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Schemes  for  the  removal  of  slavery — Colonization  and 
abolition — History  of  Colonization — Description  of  the  set 
tlement — Extract  from  the  speech  of  Mr.  Clay  in  its  sup-  \  - 
port — Views  of  its  friends — Objections — Extract  from  Pro 
fessor  Dew  in  opposition  to  colonization — Observations  on 
the  scheme  -  'i  ^V/:  !-=-  '-JHn?r^l^il(nirvsr3i""— "  123 

CHAPTER  XII. 

^Abolition  of  slavery  in  the  United  States — Objects  and 
designs  of  Abolitionists — Emancipation — universal — imme 
diate — unconditional — without  compensation  to  the  master 

Elevation  of  the  slave  to  political  equality  with  the  whites 

right  of  bearing  arms— of  voting — of  holding  office — Amal 
gamation         172 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Character  of  leading   abolitionists — Garrison — Tappan 

Thompson  the  British  agent,  &c. — General  character  of  the 
faction      -•        -        -        -        „        .        .        -157 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Policy  of  Abolitionists — Agitation  in  the  North—in  the 
South— with  the  slave-holders— with  the  slaves— Fanaticism 
—Female  influence— Organization  of  the  party — Agents 


Vlll 

Publications — Political    influence — Revolution — Disunion — 
Insurrection      -        -        -        -        -        -  .       172 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Resources  and  power  of  the  Abolitionists — Number  of  So 
cieties — Amount  of  Collections — Number  and  nature  of  pub 
lications,  &c. 189 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Consequences  of  the  course  of  the  abolitionists — War  upon 
the  slave-holder — Emancipation  retarded  or  rendered  impos 
sible — Bondage  of  the  blacks  made  more  severe — Address 
of  the  coloured  people  of  Baltimore,  &c.  -  -  199 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Rights  of  the  South — Nature  of  those  rights — Intangible 
to  Northern  interference — Recognised  by  the  North — Obliga 
tion  to  respect  them — North  not  accountable  for  Southern 
slavery — Treason  of  abolitionists — Laws  of  the  South  against 
incendiarism — Abolitionists  violate  those  laws — Right  of  the 
South  to  demand  the  offenders  for  punishment — Duty  of  the 
northern  states  to  suppress  incendiarism  -  -  208 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia — 
Congress  has  no  jurisdiction  over  the  subject — Consequences 
of  making  Congress  an  abolition  engine — Emancipation  a  vir 
tual  infraction  of  the  compact  between  the  General  Govern 
ment  and  Virginia  and  Maryland — A  violation  of  the  rights 
of  the  citizens  of  the  District — Consequences  of  abolishing 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  ...  218 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Impossibility  of  effecting  emancipation,  even  under  the 
sanction  of  the  slave-holders,  without  collision  and  war  be 
tween  the  whites  and  blacks.  Blacks  would,  when  free, 
claim  political  equality — Consequences  if  denied — Conse- 


IX 

quences  if  granted — Impossibility  of  social  amalgamation — 
Numerous  subjects  of  quarrel — Free  blacks  of  the  North — 
Their  character  and  condition — Unable  to  attain  social  or 
political  equality — Anecdote — Character  and  capabilities  of 
the  negro  race — Equality  only  attained  by  sexual  amalgama 
tion — Impracticable — Consequences  if  otherwise  -  226 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Consequences  of  abolition,  even  if  effected  with  the  con 
sent  of  slave-holders.  To  the  North — Negro  emigration 
to  the  North — Depreciation  of  labour — Distress  of  white 
labouring  population — Black  Lazaroni — Political  move 
ments  of  blacks  in  the  North — Destructive  influence  of 
emancipation  on  Commerce  and  Manufactures  of  the  North 
— Consequences  to  the  South — Loss  of  negro  labour  and  im 
poverishment  of  the  country — Negro  indolence,  &c. — Vio 
lence  and  insurrection — Picture  of  the  ravages  of  the  eman 
cipated  slave — Philanthropy  of  Abolitionists — Consequences 
of  emancipation  to  slaves — Improvidence,  poverty,  vice  and 
wretchedness — Instances — Results  of  collision  with  the 
whites  -  ""nr  "  "  "  2^7 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

St.  Domingo  before  the  revolution — Insurrection  originated 
in  the  policy  of  France — AMIS  DES  NOIRS — Agitation  of  the 
colony  by  the  French — Domestic  dissentions — Oge — Insur 
rection — French  commissioners  proclaim  abolition  of  slavery 
— Massacres — Cruelty  of  the  revolted  slaves — Touissant — 
Le  Clerc  lands — Evacuates  the  island — Dessalines — Massa 
cres — Christophe — Petion — Boyer — Present  state  of  Hayti, 
Government — Population — Character  of  inhabitants — Agri 
culture — Commerce— Free  labour— Finances— Army,  &c.  254 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Consequences  of  agitating  abolition  in  opposition  to  the 
wishes,and  in  violation  of  the  rights,of  the  South — Individual 
agitation — Party  and  popular  excitement — Danger  of  servile 


insurrection — THE  UNION  ENDANGERED — Disunion  can  only 
be  produced  by  the  course  of  the  North — Consequences — To 
the  North — Confederacy  dissolved  never  re-united — Destruc 
tion  of  manufactures  and  commerce  of  the  North — Collision 
between  the  North  and  South — National  glory — Motives  of 
abolitionists 276 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

British  agency  in  urging  abolition — Motives,  &c. — Reli 
gious  interference — Extent — Nature — Consequences  of  cleri 
cal  influence  in  the  agitation  of  this  question  -  -  288 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Ability  of  the  South  to  hold  its  slaves — Anxiety  of  Abo 
litionists  unnecessary — Croakers — Posterity — Comparative 
increase  of  whites  and  blacks — Increase  unattended  by  dan 
ger — Impossibility  of  successful  insurrrection — Moral  supe 
riority  of  whites — Superior  intelligence  and  skill — Organiza 
tion — Resources — Slaves  contented, and  averse  to  insurrection 
— Incendiarism  suppressed  by  the  South  -  295 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Course  of  the  South  vindicated — Her  indignant  resistance 
of  incendiary  agitation — Her  punishment  of  those  found  ex 
citing  her  slaves  to  insurrection — Duty  of  Congress — Post 
Office,  &c. — Duty  of  non-slave-hoiding  states — Freedom  of 
the  press,  &c. — Conclusion  -  307 


ERRATUM. 

The  Note  on  page  79  should  have  been  subjoined  to  the 
commencement  of  Chapter  VIII.,  on  the  subsequent  page. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  framers  of  our  government,  when  confronted 
in  their  labours  by  the  question  of  slavery,  prudent 
ly  turned  aside  from  a  topic,  which  menaced  their 
councils  with  division,  and  the  embryo  constitution 
with  death.  They  left  the  unquestioned  sovereignty 
of  the  Southern  States  over  all  connected  with  this 
most  important  branch  of  their  domestic  relations, 
untouched.  The  controversy  was  buried,  as  they 
hoped,  for  ever;  and  they  departed  from  the  scene 
of  their  labours,  in  the  happy  confidence  that  our 
country  did  not  contain  one  man  so  lost  to  reason 
and  patriotism,  as  madly  to  violate  the  grave  in 
which  they  saw  this  exciting  question  quietly  inurn- 
ed,  and  drag  it  forth  to  madden  and  distract  the 
land. 

The  result  has  proven  that  their  confidence  was 
ill-founded.  Every  land  comprises  men  prepared, 
by  nature,  for  treasons,  stratagems,  and  spoils — men 
who  rejoice  to  tear  open  and  irritate  the  wounds  of 
their  country,  and  who  seek,  with  sedulous  diligence, 
for  those  weak  and  unguarded  spots  in  the  body 
politic,  where  it  may  be  struck  with  the  most  fatal 
effect.  Of  their  individual  character,  it  is  unneces- 
2 


XIV 


sary  here  to  speak.  Treason  finds  disciples  of  every 
description  and  variety.  Heated  fanaticism  and 
reckless  villany,  hypocritical  guile  and  honest  stu 
pidity,  often  combine  to  forward  the  most  nefarious 
plots.  Our  own  country  is  not-  without  such  men. 
The  sun  warms  the  reptile  into  life;  and  freedom 
often  animates  into  existence  beings  whose  life  is  a 
reproach  and  a  calamity  to  her.  There  are  men 
who  take  an  unnatural  pleasure  in  the  afflictions  of 
their  country,  and  who  live  only  to  foment  disturb 
ance.  Their  nature  and  enjoyments  are  like  those 
of  the  sailors'  bird  of  evil  omen,  which  flutters  with 
delight  in  the  breath  of  the  tempest,  looks  down 
upon  the  foundering  wreck,  and  screams,  with  ex 
ultation,  in  answer  to  the  shrieks  of  the  wretches 
who  perish  in  the  waves.  There  arc  others,  who, 
from  a  leaden  vanity,  thrust  themselves  into  matters 
for  which  their  capacities  are  not  suited.  They  ex 
pend  time  and  money  in  forwarding  the  designs  of 
their  crafty  leaders,  and  arc  well  satisfied  with  the 
sacrifice.  These  men  mistake  notoriety  for  fame; 
their  hearts  flutter  with  pleasure  when  their  names 
are  consigned  to  the  contempt  of  the  public,  through 
the  medium  of  the  newspapers;  and  they  hear  the 
hiss  of  outraged  propriety  with  the  complacent 
smirk  of  gratified  pride.  There  is  another  class — 
fanatics — who  mistake  the  promptings  of  their  over 
heated  fancy — the  vapours  that  rise  from  the  molten 
lead  of  their  own  seething  brains — for  the  dictates 

o 

of  inspiration.  They  are  a  troublesome  race,  to 
whom  the  tranquillizing  chair  or  strait  jacket  is  the 


XV 

only  effective  argument.  Still,  they  should  be  re 
garded  rather  with  compassion  than  anger,  as  they 
make  themselves  fools  from  conscientious  mo 
tives.  A  fourth  class  remains  to  be  mentioned,  en 
titled  only  to  our  contempt  and  abhorrence.  They 
affect  an  enthusiasm  which  they  do  not  feel.  Hypo 
crisy  is  their  professional  pursuit.  They  live  upon 
cant — cant  themselves  into  influence,  luxury,  and 
power;  and  use  their  sway  over  the  weak  and  credu 
lous,  to  forward  schemes  of  ambition,  aggrandize 
ment,  or  malevolence.  These  men  (and  there  are 
such  men)  are  capable  of  any  act,  however  atro 
cious;  they  would  dip  their  hands  in  human  gore, 
and  then,  with  their  crimson  fingers,  turn  over  the 
leaves  of  the  Bible  to  find  a  sanction  for  the  deed. 

We  have  fallen  upon  evil  times.  Men  have  been 
found  wrho  do  not  scruple  to  tear  off  the  seals  which 
our  fathers  set  upon  the  question  of  slavery.  They 
have  broken  open,  with  reckless  hands,  this  maga 
zine,  filled  with  all  that  can  excite  and  endanger; 
and  are  lighting  the  torch  to  apply  to  its~materials 
of  fury  and  desolation.  The  consequences  are  such 
as  might  have  been  anticipated.  Distrust  and  fear, 
indignation  and  violence,  are  abroad  in  our  land. 
Every  fibre  of  our  country  is  quivering  with  excite 
ment.  How  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  Our  people  can 
not  be  expected  to  stand  by,  with  complacent  tran 
quillity,  while  mad  hands  are  digging  under  the 
foundation  stone  of  our  government.  They  cannot 
be  asked  to  witness,  unmoved,  the  violation  of  one 
of  the  first  of  the  sacred  and  unalienated  rights  of 


XVI 

the  States — a  right  achieved  by  the  right  arm  of  our 
fathers,  and  hallowed  in  the  baptism  of  blood — a 
right  which  existed  before  our  government  was  call 
ed  into  being,  and  to  which  our  National  Constitu 
tion  bows  in  deference.  They  cannot  be  desired  to 
gaze  on,  without  alarm  or  anger,  while  treason  and 
fanaticism  place  the  brand  and  the  torch  in  the  hands 
of  the  savage  negro,  and,  pointing  to  the  whites,  bid 
him  rise  and  destroy.  These  things  must  produce 
excitement.  They  must  alarum  the  fears — they 
must  awaken  the  resentment  of  the  people. 

"The  flesh  will  quiver  when  the  pincers  tear — 
The  blood  will  follow  where  the  knife  is  driven." 

To  be  indifferent  is  impossible;  and  if  possible,  would 
be  weak  and  unwise.  The  people  that  submit  to 
such  wrong  will  submit  to  any  thing.  The  freeman 
who  can,  without  alarm,  witness  the  development 
of  the  abolition  conspiracy,  would  scarcely  be 
roused  by  the  "  crack  of  doom."  The  true  patriot, 
instead  of  lulling  the  people  into  dangerous  lethargy, 
instead  of  encouraging  a  slumbrous  indifference — 
will  pray  heaven  to — 

"  Fool  them  not  so  much 
To  bear  it  tamely ;  touch  them  with  noble  auger." 

The  crisis  is  one  which  calls  for  the  aroused  and 
excited  energies  of  the  nation.  It  is  in  vain  that  we 
are  told  that  the  abolitionists  arc  few  and  feeble — 
that  they  are  regarded  with  contempt,  and  meet  daily 
with  the  emphatic  expression  of  popular  abhorrence. 


XV11 

Circumstances  give  them  power.  When  the  train 
is  laid  a  child  may  fire  it.  Such  is  our  situation;  and 
the  people  are  called  upon,  by  all  that  is  dear  or 
sacred  to  them,  to  interpose,  arrest  the  brand  of  the 
incendiary,  and  save  the  country  from  the  calamities 
which  menace  it. 

The  people  must  be  made  acquainted  with  this 
subject — they  must  be  apprized  of  the  rights  of  the 
South,  and  informed  of  the  hollowness  and  falsehood 
of  the  appeals  which  are  daily  made  to  them  by  the 
abolitionists.  We  do  not,  at  the  North,  claim  a  right 
so  to  discuss  this  subject  as  to  disturb  or  agitate  the 
South;  but  when  reckless  men  have  sent  forth,  for 
the  wTorst  purposes,  hosts  of  falsehoods,  it  is  our 
right  and  duty  to  step  aside  and  crush  the  misbegot 
ten  and  dangerous  brood.  This,  and  this  alone,  is 
our  aim. 

The  incendiaries  appeal  only  to  the  passions;  and 
endeavour,  by  falsehood  and  misrepresentation,  to 
mislead  and  excite  the  unthinking.  Their  argu 
ments  consist  altogether  of  specious  but  misty  and 
unintelligible  abstractions.  They  industriously  en 
deavour  to  enlist  religious  feelings  in  favour  of  their 
designs;  and  are  constantly  fulminating  religious  de 
nunciations  to  move  and  appal  the  conscientious  but 
weak.  They  address  themselves  peculiarly  to  women 
and  children:  and,  by  maudlin  verses  and  lying  pic 
tures,  essay  not  only  to  rouse  the  passions  of  the  slave, 
but  to  excite  the  prejudices  of  the  ignorant  and  un 
reflecting  of  our  citizens. 

Against  these  arts,  the  friends  of  the  Constitution 


XV111 


and  the  Union — the  lovers  of  peace  and  order — with 
confidence  oppose  the  force  of  reason  and  truth.  Let 
the  facts  connected  with  this  subject  be  known  to 
our  people,  and  the  frothy  effusions  of  the  abolition 
ists  will  cease  to  be  dangerous. 


SLAVERY  AT  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Origin  of  Slavery — Slavery  among  the  ancients, 
either  Involuntary  or  Voluntary — Involun 
tary  Slavery— from  War — Piracy — Crime — 
Bargain  and  Sale. 

THERE  are  few  topics  which  have  been  subjected 
to  so  much  vague  abstraction  and  empty  declamation 
as  slavery.  Various  theories  have  been  suggested  in 
relation  to  its  origin;  but,  separated  from  hypocriti 
cal  flourish  and  unmeaning  cant,  they  amount  at  last 
to  little  else  than  an  admission,  that  slavery  origi- 
ginally  sprung  from  the  inequality  of  the  race,  and 
the  necessities  arising  from  that  inequality.  The 
sagacious  and  powerful  subjected  their  inferiors  to 
their  control;  and  their  inferiors,  in  return,  were 
protected  and  fed.  Nature  and  necessity  created 
classes,  which  nothing  but  the  refinements  of  educa 
tion  could  remove.  Mind  subjected  matter  to  its 
sway;  the  bold  controlled  the  timid;  the  wise  di 
rected  the  weak;  and  while  one  class  toiled,  another 
counselled,  fought  and  governed.  This  state  of  things 
is  not,  it  must  be  admitted,  accordant  with  our  prin- 


20 

ciples  or  feelings;  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  prove 
that  it  is  at  war  with  nature. 

"Slavery,"  says  Voltaire,  "is  as  ancient  as  war; 
war,  as  human  nature."  As  far  back  as  history  gives 
us  a  record  of  the  race,  we  find  proofs  of  the  exist 
ence  of  slavery.  Immediately  after  the  deluge,  re 
ference  is  made  to  it,  (see  Gen.  ix.  25,)  and  from 
that  period,  throughout  the  whole  range  of  Hebrew 
history,  numberless  evidences  are  given  of  its  preva 
lence.  Slavery  existed  and  was  common  before  and 
during  the  siege  of  Troy.  Homer  frequently  refers 
to  it.  "  No  legislator  of  antiquity,"  to  quote  again 
from  Voltaire,  "  attempted  to  abrogate  slavery.  So 
ciety  wras  so  accustomed  to  this  degradation  of  the 
species,  that  Epictetus,  who  was  assuredly  worth 
more  than  his  master,  never  expresses  any  surprise 
at  his  being  a  slave." 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  designate  the  nations  of 
antiquity  in  which  slavery  prevailed.  It  was  es 
tablished  in  all.  In  those  countries  most  celebrated 
for  their  liberality  and  refinement,  the  institution  of 
slavery  existed  in  its  greatest  extent.  Egypt  was 
crowded  with  a  servile  population.  Hardy  Sparta 
and  liberal  Athens  owed  much  of  their  power  to 
their  numerous  slaves.  Carthage  was  also  celebrated 
for  the  number  of  her  bondmen;  and  her  triumphant 
rival,  Rome,  won,  in  her  countless  conquests,  mil 
lions  of  slaves.  Paulus  Emilius  brought  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  slaves  to  Rome;  and  Au 
gustus  sold  thirty-six  thousand  of  the  Salassii  into 
slavery.  Indeed,  throughout  the  whole  known  world 
the  institution  of  slavery  appears  to  have  prevailed. 
Sages  and  patriots,  the  wise  and  benevolent,  joined 
in  sustaining  it;  and  the  slaves  themselves,  while 
they  suffered  under  a  bondage  not  always  the  most 
lenient,  regarded  it  as  their  destiny,  and  endured  it 
without  a  murmur. 


21 

Slavery  among  the  ancients  was  of  two  species, — 
involuntary  and  voluntary.  Involuntary  slavery  was 
that  which  resulted  from  war,  from  piracy  or  kid 
napping,  from  crime,  and  from  commerce. 

Most  nations  have  considered  their  right  over 
their  captives  taken  in  war  as  absolute.  Barbarous 
conquerors,  and  those  impelled  only  by  a  sanguinary 
thirst  for  vengeance,  sacrificed  the  lives  of  the  sub 
dued.  When  a  gentler  spirit,  or  more  just  idea  of 
war,  prevailed,  the  victim  was  spared,  and  became 
the  slave  of  the  conqueror.  The  Romans  called 
their  slaves  servi,  from  servare,  to  save.  The  origin 
of  the  custom  of  sparing  and  enslaving  captives,  has 
been  ascribed  by  some  writers  to  Assyria,  and  by 
others  to  Lacedemon;  but  the  probability  is,  that  it 
prevailed  long  before  it  was  practised  by  either  of 
these  nations.  The  improvement  of  agriculture, 
the  organization  of  society,  the  increase  of  inhabit 
ants,  and  the  establishment  of  principles  in  relation 
to  the  right  of  property,  tended  to  dissuade  men 
from  unnecessary  slaughter,  and  to  make  the  ser 
vices  6f  a  bondman  valuable.  We  may,  therefore, 
suppose  that  the  practice  of  enslaving  prisoners  was 
one  of  the  earliest  incidents  of  warfare.  The  hu 
mane  principles  now  established  as  the  law  of  na 
tions — that  in  war  we  have  a  right  only  to  the  use 
of  those  means  which  have  a  connexion  morally 
necessary  with  the  end  in  view,  was  unknown  to 
the  ancients;  and  whenever  prisoners  were  not  saved 
as  slaves,  they  were  slaughtered  without  mercy. 
The  most  clement  of  the  Roman  generals  acted 
upon  this  principle;  and  the  nations  which  combined 
to  overturn  the  colossal  power  of  the  mistress  of  the 
world,  adopted  a  similar  policy.  The  latter,  being 
generally  pastoral  in  their  mode  of  life,  did  not  need 
the  labour  of  slaves;  and  in  their  incursions  on  the 
Roman  empire,  waged  a  war  of  extermination,  spar- 


22 

ing  neither  women  nor  children.  The  period  which 
elapsed  from  the  reign  of  Theodosius  to  the  reign 
of  Alboinus,  in  Lombardy,  (from  A.  D.  395  to  A.  D. 
571,)  is,  in  consequence,  considered  by  Robertson, 
the  most  calamitous  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
world.'* 

*  We  subjoin  from  Professor  Dew's  pamphlet  on  Slavery, 
a  work  written  with  great  ability,  and  to  which  we  invite  the 
attention  of  the  reader,  the  following  instance  of  the  manner 
in  which  war  is  prosecuted  in  Africa.  It  affords,  by  the  way, 
an  interesting  fact,  from  which  to  estimate  the  comparative 
condition  of  the  African  in  this  country,  and  in  his  native 
land. 

"  It  is  needless  to  multiply  instances  further  to  illustrate 
the  ideas  of  the  ancient  worfd  in  regard  to  t^eir  rights  to  kill 
or  enslave  at  pleasure  the  unfortunate  captive.  We  will  not 
cite  the  example  of  Africa,  the  great  storehouse  of  slavery 
for  the  modern  world,  which  so  completely  sustains  our  po 
sition  in  regard  to  the  opinions  of  men  on  this  subject,  farther 
than  to  make  an  extract  from  a  speech  delivered  in  the  British 
House  of  Commons,  by  Mr.  Henniker,  in  1789,  in  which  the 
speaker  asserts  that  a  letter  had  been  received  by  George  III. 
from  one  of  the  most  powerful  African  potentates,  the  Em 
peror  of  Dahomey,  which  letter  admirably  exemplifies  the 
African's  notions  about  the  right  to  kill  or  enslave  prisoners 
of  war.  'He  (Emperor  of  Dahomey,)  states,'  said  Mr,  H. 
'  that  as  he  understood  King  George  was  the  greatest  of  white 
kings,  so  he  thought  himself  the  greatest  of  black  ones.  He 
asserted  that  he  could  lead  five  hundred  thousand  men  armed 
into  the  field ;  that  being  the  pursuit  to  which  all  his  sub 
jects  were  bred,  and  the  women  only  staying  at  home  to  plant 
and  manure  the  earth.  He  had  himself  fought  two  hundred 
and  nine  battles,  with  great  reputation  and  success ;  and  had 
conquered  the  great  King  of  Ardah — the  king's  head  was 
to  this  day  preserved  with  the  flesh  and  hair;  the  heads  of 
his  generals  were  distinguished  by  being  placed  on  each  side 
of  the  doors  of  their  fetiches :  with  the  heads  of  the  inferior 
officers  they  paved  the  space  before  the  doors ;  and  the  heads 
of  the  common  soldiers  formed  a  sort  of  fringe  or  outwork 
round  the  walls  of  the  palace.  Since  this  war  he  had  expe 
rienced  the  greatest  good  fortune,  and  he  hoped  in  good  time 
to  be  able  to9  complete  the  out-walls  of  all  his  great  houses, 
to  the  number  of  seven,  in  the  same  manner.' " 


23 

One  of  the  earliest  examples  of  this  species  of 
warfare  may  be  found  in  holy  writ.  The  Israelites 
in  invading  Canaan,  waged  against  the  inhabitants  a 
war  of  extermination;  and  the  only  people  (the 
Gibeonites,)  rescued  from  the  sword,  were  reserved 
for  bondage,  "  We  will  even  let  them  live;  but  let 
them  be  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  unto 
all  the  congregation." 

War,  therefore,  appears  to  have  been  the  first  and 
great  source  of  slavery  among  the  ancients.  As  the 
nations  of  that  period  were  generally  warlike,  the 
number  of  captives  must  have  been  very  great.  In 
truth,  the  slaves  in  many  countries  exceeded  in 
number  the  free;  and  the  insurrections,  which  were 
not  unfrequent,  were  always  bloody  and  destructive. 

Another  fruitful  source  of  slavery  in  the  ancient 
world  was  piracy.  This  practice  prevailed  to  the 
greatest  extent  in  the  earliest  ages,  when  the  human 
reason  had  not  emerged  from  the  indistinctness  of 
its  dawn,  when  the  rights  of  property  were  but 
dubiously  understood,  and  when  the  skill  and  cou 
rage  required  in  piratical  incursions  into  neighbour 
ing  nations  were  regarded  with  admiration.  "  The 
Grecians,"  says Thucydides,  "in their  primitive  state, 
as  well  as  the  contemporaneous  barbarians  who  in- 

Mr.  ?»Iorris,  who  visited  this  empire  in  1772,  actually  tes 
tifies  to  the  truth  of  this  letter.  He  found  the  palace  of  the 
emperor  an  immense  assemblage  of  cane  and  mud  huts,  en 
closed  by  a  high  wall.  The  skulls  and  jaw-bones  of  enemies 
slain  in  battle,  formed  the  favourite  ornaments  of  the  palaces 
and  temples.  The  king's  apartments  were  paved,  and  the 
walls  and  roof  stuck  over  with  these  horrid  trophies;  "and  if 
a  further  supply  appeared  at  any  time  desirable,  he  announced 
to  his  general  that  his  "house  wanted  thatch,"  when  a  war 
for  that  purpose  was  immediately  undertaken.  Who  can  for 
a  moment  be  so  absurd  as  to  imagine,  that  such  a  prince  as 
this  could  doubt  of  his  right  to  make  slaves  in  war,  when  he 
gloried  in  being  able  to  thatch  his  house  with  the  heads  of 
his  enemies'?" 


24 

habited  the  sea  coasts  and  islands,  addicted  them 
selves  wholly  to  piracy:  it  was,  in  short,  their  only 
profession  and  support."  The  most  complete  con 
firmation  of  this  account  may  be  found  in  Homer 
and  other  writers.  Indeed,  the  pursuit  was  consi 
dered  heroic  and  honourable.  The  dangers  attend 
ing  such  enterprizes — the  skill,  strength,  agility  and 
valour  required  for  them — excited  the  bold  and  am 
bitious,  while  the  valuable  nature  of  the  spoil  recom 
mended  it  to  the  selfish  and  rapacious.  At  length, 
however,  piracy  sunk  in  reputation  as  the  nations 
advanced  in  civilization.  It  fell  into  the  hands  of 
low  and  lawless  robbers.  Their  only  object  was  gain; 
and  the  practice  was  continued,  accompanied  by  the 
perpetration  of  every  species  of  outrage  and  rapine. 
Slaves  becoming  more  and  more  valuable,  the  prac 
tice  was  furtively  pursued  to  an  immense  extent. 
Many  were  seized  and  sold  into  slavery  by  their 
own  countrymen;  and  every  coast  had  its  commerce 
in  slaves.  The  merchants  of  Thessaly,  it  is  said, 
were  particularly  infamous  for  this  species  of  depre 
dation.  The  Athenians  practised  the  kidnapping  of 
their  own  people  to  so  alarming  an  extent,  that  it 
was  found  necessary  to  enact  a  lawr  punishing  the 
offence  with  death. 

In  all  ages  the  perpetration  of  crime  has  been 
punished  with  slavery.  This  appears  to  be  the  most 
natural  and  just  of  the  many  causes  of  bondage.  The 
necessities  of  society  require  that  men  guilty  of  atro 
cious  offences,  should  be  deprived  of  a  freedom  which 
has  become  dangerous  to  their  fellow  beings.  If 
society  can  require  the  forfeit  of  life,  it  may  de 
mand  the  loss  of  liberty.  Accordingly,  \ve  find  that 
among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  crime  was  often  the 
cause  of  slavery;  and  in  our  own  times,  not  only 
most  savage,  but  civilized  countries,  among  which 
our  own  land  may  be  mentioned,  have  made  many 


25 

offences  punishable  with  bondage.  Even  insolvency 
was  punished  in  Greece  and  Rome  with  slavery. 
The  same  custom  now  obtains  in  Africa. 

The  traffic  of  slaves  consisted,  not  only  in  the  sale 
of  the  children  of  freemen  by  their  parents,  and  the 
sale  of  freemen  from  a  want  of  the  means  of  suste 
nance,  but  of  the  sale  of  captives  and  of  those  born 
in  bondage. 

The  first  instance  of  slavery  by  bargain  and  sale  is 
given  in  the  Scripture  History  of  Joseph.  The  ac 
count  of  the  sale  of  Joseph  to  the  Ishmaelites  for 
twenty  pieces  of  silver  and  his  conveyance  to  Egypt, 
prove  that  the  practice  was  common  at  that  time, 
and  that  Egypt  was  a  mart  for  the  traffic  in  slaves. 
There  is,  in  the  Bible,  frequent  mention  of  the  pur 
chase  and  sale  of  slaves.  The  purest  patriarchs  par 
ticipated  in  the  commerce;  and  the  inspired  code  of 
the  Jews  justified  and  regulated  the  traffic.  The 
Hebrews  were  allowed  to  sell  their  own  country 
men  for  six  years;  to  sell  their  sons  and  daughters; 
and  unlimited  power  to  purchase  slaves  from  the 
neighbouring  nations  was  expressly  given. 

"  If  thou  buy  a  Hebrew  servant,  six  years  he  shall 
serve,  and  in  the  seventh  he  shall  go  free  for  no 
thing." 

"  If  a  man  sell  his  daughter  to  be  a  maid-ser 
vant,  she  shall  not  go  out  as  the  men  servants." 

"Both  thy  bondmen  and  bondmaids  which  thou 
shalt  have,  shall  be  of  the  heathen  that  are  round 
about  you:  of  them  shall  ye  buy  bondmen  and  bond 
maids.  Moreover  of  the  children  of  strangers  who 
sojourn  among  you,  of  them  shall  ye  buy;  and  of  the 
families  that  are  with  you,  which  they  begat  in  your 
land;  and  they  shall  be  your  possession.  And  ye 
shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for  your  children 
after  you,  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession;  they  shall 
be  your  bondmen  for  ever." 
3 


26 

Egypt  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  principal 
markets  for  the  sale  of  the  human  species.  Homer 
refers  to  Cyprus  and  Egypt  as  the  common  marts  for 
slaves  in  the  Trojan  war.  The  traffic  was  also  prac 
tised,  at  that  time,  in  many  of  the  islands  of  the* 
JEgean  sea.  Tyre  and  Sidon  are  described  by  the 
Scriptures,  as  prosecuting  this  commerce.  In  truth, 
it  prevailed  in  the  whole  of  the  known  world.  In 
Greece  and  Rome,  and  their  colonies,  the  trade  was 
universal;  and  among  the  nations  which  overran  the 
South  of  Europe,  it  prevailed  until  the  establishment 
of  the  Feudal  System.  That  system  was  little  else 
than  a  modification  of  the  slavery  of  the  ancients,  to 
suit  the  circumstances  and  necessities  of  the  rude  and 
warlike  nations  in  which  it  was  adopted.  It  was  ad 
mirably  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  defence;  but  did 
little,  if  any  thing,  to  lighten  the  bonds  of  the  slave, 
or  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  race. 

Slavery  continued  to  exist,  even  in  Europe,  up  to 
a  late  period.  In  the  middle  ages  the  Venetians  car 
ried  on  a  very  extended  commerce  in  slaves;  which 
was  prohibited  by  the  pope,  only  so  far  as  it  in 
cluded  trade  in  Christians.  In  England  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  nobility  sold  their  servants  as  slaves  to  fo 
reigners;  and  even  after  the  conquest,  and  until  the 
reign  of  Henry  II.  slaves  were  exported,  in  numbers, 
from  England  to  Ireland. 


CHAPTER  II. 


Slavery  among  the  Ancients  continued — Volun 
tary  Slavery — Roman  Mercenarii — Grecian 
Prodigals —  German  Enthusiasts —  Condition 
of  Slaves — Power  and  inhumanity  of  Masters. 

PERHAPS  slavery,  when  resulting  from  insolvency, 
might  with  propriety  be  regarded  as  voluntary. 
The  freeman  who  pursued  a  course  which  resulted 
in  bondage,  and  thus  incurred  a  fate  which  might 
have  been  avoided,  may  be  considered  as  having 
assumed  it.  If  this  be  admitted,  the  number  of  vo 
luntary  bondmen  in  Greece  and  Rome,  where  the 
refinement  of  society  rendered  the  vicissitudes  of 
fortune  frequent,  must  be  accounted  very  great. 

In  Rome  there  existed  a  large  body  of  slaves,  or 
servants,  known  as  mercenarii.  This  title  was 
given  them  because  they  received  hire.  They  were 
free-born  citizens,  set  down  in  the  books  as  liberi, 
and  distinguished  from  the  foreigners,  or  alieni, 
\vho  served  the  rich. 

In  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Claudian,  the  Roman 
Senate  passed  a  decree  permitting  those  who  were 
born  free  to  sell  their  freedom  and  become  slaves. 
This  law  remained  in  force  until  abrogate^  by  Leo. 

The  Grecian  Thetes  were  servants  of  a  character 
somewhat  similar  to  the  mercenarii.  They  re 
ceived  are  compense  for  their  labours;  and,  though 
treated  as  slaves  and  obliged  to  perform  the  most 
servile  offices,  were  not  completely  subject  to  the 


28 

will  of  their  master,  but  could,  at  the  expiration  of 
a  certain  term,  obtain  their  discharge  if  used  with 
illegal  severity. 

There  was,  amongst  the  Greeks,  a  species  of  slaves 
denominated  Prodigals.  They  were  those  who, 
having  incurred  debts  which  they  were  unable  to 
liquidate,  were  sold  for  the  satisfaction  of  their  cre 
ditors.  The  Delinquents  were  debtors  of  a  simi 
lar  description,  who  having  imprudently  subjected 
themselves  to  the  loss  of  their  liberty,  were  sen 
tenced  to  the  gallics  and  laboured  at  the  oar. 

The  most  singular  class  of  which  we  have  an  ac 
count,  were  the  German  Enthusiasts.  They  were 
gamblers,  who,  pursuing  their  intoxicating  and  fatal 
passion  to  the  last  stake,  maddened  by  the  excite 
ment  of  the  game,  placed  their  persons  on  the  hazard 
of  the  die,  and,  in  case  of  failure,  were  sold  as  slaves. 
The  whole  account  exhibits,  in  vivid  colours,  the 
strength  of  the  passion  for  gaming — a  passion  which 
prevails  with  equal  power,  in  the  hut  of  the  savage 
and  the  hell  of  the  more  finished  gamester  of  refined 
society.  Tacitus  gives  the  following  description  of 
the  Enthusiasts.  "The  loser,"  says  the  historian, 
"  goes  into  voluntary  servitude;  and  though  younger 
and  stronger  than  the  person  with  whom  he  played, 
patiently  suffers  himself  to  be  bound  and  sold.  Their 
perseverance  in  so  bad  a  custom  is  styled  honour. 
The  slaves  thus  obtained  are  immediately  exchanged 
away  in  commerce,  that  the  winner  may  get  clear 
of  the  scandal  of  his  victory." 

The  condition  of  slaves  among  the  ancients  was 
totally  different  from  that  of  modern  slaves.  In 
stead  of  being  protected,  as  now,  not  only  from  un 
just  severity  on  the  part  of  the  master,  but  from 
suffering  or  want,  they  were  wholly  in  the  power  of 
their  owners.  There  was  no  limit  to  the  power  of 
the  master  over  the  slave.  The  latter  was,  in  a  civil 


29 

sense,  dead.  His  limbs,  life,  faculties  and  affections 
were  all  at  the  mercy  of  his  lord.  In  a  legal  point 
of  view,  he  had  neither  name  nor  tribe;  he  was  re 
cognized  as  possessing  no  rights;  and  was,  in  fact, 
as  completely  within  the  power  of  the  master  as  his 
horse  or  his  dog. 

There  were,  however,  some  partial  exceptions  to 
this  general  description.  The  Egyptian  slave,  though 
perhaps  a  greater  drudge  than  any  other,  was  pro 
tected  from  murder,  and  could,  if  he  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  temple  of  Hercules,  secure  a  retreat 
from  the  oppressive  severity  of  his  master.  The 
Hebrews  also  appear  to  have  treated  their  slaves 
with  lenity. 

Athens,  however,  was  distinguished  above  all  the 
nations  of  antiquity  for  her  peculiar  humanity  to 
slaves.  In  no  place  were  they  allowed  so  many 
privileges  or  treated  with  so  much  kindness.  De 
mosthenes,  in  his  Second  Philippic,  states  that  "  the 
condition  of  a  slave  in  Athens  was  preferable  to  that 
of  a  free  citizen  in  many  other  countries."  They 
were  allowed  great  liberty  of  speech,  and  were  per 
mitted  to  enjoy  a  certain  portion  of  time  in  their 
own  peculiar  pursuits,  their  private  labours,  amuse 
ments,  amours  or  hours  of  relaxation  and  rest. 
They  also  had  a  temple  of  refuge;  and  were  allowed 
the  privilege  of  appealing  to  the  legal  tribunal 
against  their  masters  in  case  of  harshness  or  inhu 
manity.  Besides  these  advantages,  they  possessed 
the  invaluable  privilege  of  redeeming  themselves 
from  bondage.  They  had  an  opportunity  of  work 
ing  for  themselves;  and  when  their  skill  or  industry 
had  enabled  them  to  accumulate  a  sufficient  sum, 
they  might  purchase  manumission,  and  become  free 
for  ever. 

In  Sparta  and  Carthage,  the  slaves  were  treated 
with  more  severity.  In  Rome,  the  power  of  the 
3* 


30 

master  over  his  slave  was  absolute,  extending  to  the 
right  of  depriving  him  of  life.  This  severity  was 
moderated  under  the  emperors;  and  by  a  law  of 
Adrian,  the  right  of  the  master  to  slay  his  slave  was 
withdrawn.  By  the  Roman  law,  if  a  master  was  kill 
ed,  all  the  slaves  under  the  same  roof  or  near  enough 
to  be  able  to  hear  his  cries,  were  put  to  death.  This 
severe  provision  was,  we  presume,  intended  to  pre 
vent  those  bloody  acts  of  vengeance  to  which  the 
cruelty  of  the  master,  at  times,  impelled  the  slave. 
The  slave,  and  all  that  belonged,  or  could  belong 
to  him,  was  considered  the  property  of  the  master. 
From  the  conduct  of  some  of  the  most  venerated 
patriots  of  Rome,  it  appears  that  inhumanity  to 
slaves  excited  neither  surprise  nor  censure.  It  was 
the  practice  of  the  elder  Cato  to  sell  his  superannuated 
slaves  at  any  price  rather  than  maintain  an  useless 
burthen.  Indeed,  it  appears  to  have  been  a  custom 
in  Rome  to  expose  old,  useless  and  sick  slaves  on  an 
island  of  the  Tiber  to  perish ;  and  a  law  of  Claudian 
upon  the  subject,  instead  of  punishing  and  suppress 
ing  the  barbarous  practice,  merely  gave  liberty  to 
any  slave  who  chanced  to  recover  after  having  been 
thus  exposed  and  abandoned.  The  same  law  pro 
hibits  masters  from  killing  their  slaves,  merely  for 
old  age  or  sickness.  Italy  and  Sicily  were  full  of 
places  of  confinement,  called  Ergastula,  in  which 
slaves  were  kept  at  labour.  One  of  the  most  for 
midable  insurrections  was  occasioned  by  the  break 
ing  up  of  these  Ergastula,  and  the  simultaneous 
liberation  of  sixty  thousand  slaves. 

From  the  facts,  stated  in  this  and  the  preceding 
chapter,  it  will  be  seen  that  slavery  has  always  pre 
vailed;  and  is  so  interwined  with  the  necessities  of 
the  race,  that  while  man  exists,  slavery  will  proba 
bly  exist  also.  It  will  also  be  seen,  that  the  wisest 
and  most  liberal  nations  of  antiquity  did  not  hesi- 


31 

tate  to  encourage  domestic  slavery;  and,  instead  of 
regarding  it  as  inconsistent  with  political  liberty  or 
injurious  to  national  weal,  they  sanctioned  it  as  one 
of  the  greatest  securities  and  auxiliaries  of  both.  It 
will  be  observed,  in  addition,  that  the  institution  of 
slavery  has  not  only  had  the  assent  and  sanction  of 
all  the  patriots,  philanthropists  and  sages  of  anti 
quity,  but  that  the  divine  will  has  been  distinctly 
and  actively  expressed  in  its  favour.  A  comparison 
of  the  condition  of  ancient  and  modern  slavery  may, 
also,  perhaps,  enlighten  the  prejudices  of  some  of 
those  who  affect  to  sympathize  with  the  bondman, 
and  lament  over  the  fictitious  recital  of  the  stern 
ness  of  the  American  master  and  the  hardships  of 
the  American  slave. — But  on  these  points  we  will 
speak  more  at  large  hereafter. 


CHAPTER  III. 


Origin,  progress,  and  abolition  of  the  African 
Slave  Trade. 

THE  African  slave  trade  was  commenced  by  the 
Portuguese.  In  1434  a  Portuguese  captain  landed  in 
Guinea;  and  having  captured  some  negro  lads,  he 
bore  them  to  the  south  of  Spain,  and  sold  them  to 
great  advantage.  The  opening  thus  made  was  soon 
crowded  with  adventurers.  The  Portuguese  made 
descents  upon  the  coast  of  Africa,  seized  the  inhabit 
ants,  and  carried  them  into  slavery.  These  depre 
dations  at  length  became  so  frequent  and  formidable, 
that  the  blacks  retreated  into  the  interior.  Thither, 
however,  their  persecutors  followed  them.  The 
Portuguese  entered  their  rivers,  and  penetrating 
into  the  country,  continued  and  extended  their 
spoliations. 

The  traffic  soon  became  so  important,  as  to  render 
a  more  permanent  and  secure  system  necessary  to 
furnish  the  traders  with  the  requisite  supply  of 
slaves.  The  plan  was  changed.  Recourse  to  force 
was  abandoned,  and  a  peaceful  commerce  was  com 
menced  with  the  natives.  Settlements  were  made, 
forts  built,  and  factories  erected;  and  the  trade  soon 
became  extended  and  mutual. 

The  Portuguese  erected  their  first  fort  at  D'El- 
mina,  in  1481.  Other  European  nations  soon  fol 
lowed  their  example.  Treaties  were  made  with  the 
African  kings;  they  agreed  to  furnish  slaves,  and 


33 

the  traders,  in  return,  brought  them  the  luxuries 
and  ornaments  of  Europe. 

The  object  of  this  trade,  on  the  part  of  the  Euro 
peans,  was  to  supply  the  necessities  of  their  extensive 
western  colonies.  The  newly  discovered  and  settled 
portions  of  the  western  world,  being  generally  in  a 
latitude  fatal  to  European  constitutions,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  subject  the  natives  to  labour.  In  most 
instances  this  proved  unsuccessful;  and  recourse 
was,  at  length,  had  to  the  natives  of  Africa,  whose 
constitutions  were  found  to  agree  with  the  exposure 
and  hardships  required.  In  1517,  Las  Casas,  who 
had  seen  the  poor  Indians  melting  away  like  dew, 
proposed  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  to  substitute 
negro  labour;  and  a  charter  was  accordingly  granted 
for  the  importation  of  four  thousand  slaves  annually 
into  Hispaniola. 

The  slave  trade,  which  at  first  consisted  wholly 
in  the  transportation  of  those  who  had  forfeited  their 
liberty  in  their  own  country,  as  criminals  or  pri 
soners  of  war,  was  at  length  extended  by  the  wants 
of  the  colonies,  and  the  rapacity  of  the  African 
chiefs.  Those  who  were  suspected  of  crime  became 
slaves;  and  causeless  wars  were  undertaken,  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  making  captives  for  the  slave  trade. 
The  traffic  continued  to  extend  with  the  growth 
and  wants  of  the  colonies,  up  to  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

Those  who  collect  the  slaves  for  the  traders  have 
been  divided  into  several  classes.  The  first  consisted 
of  a  chain  of  black  traders  from  the  interior  to  the 
sea-board.  They  procured  slaves,  sometimes  at  a 
distance  of  twelve  hundred  miles  in  the  country, 
and  forwarded  them  on  to  the  factories.  The  second 
class  was  composed  of  individuals  who  travelled  in 
land,  and  collecting  as  many  slaves  as  they  could 
transport,  brought  them  to  the  stations.  The  third 
class  comprised  those  who  ascended  the  rivers  to  a 


34 

great  height,  in  large  canoes,  and  thus  collected  num 
bers  of  slaves.  The  prices  paid  for  slaves  were  ge 
nerally  trivial,  but  advanced  as  the  trader  approached 
the  coast  The  articles  given  in  exchange  consisted 
generally  of  liquor,  muskets,  powder,  &c. 

Large  numbers  of  slaves  were  procured  by  the 
depredations  of  native  princes,  dignified  with  the 
name  of  wars.  It  appears  that  the  native  Africans, 
instead  of  being  in  the  state  of  primeval  innocence 
and  undisturbed  tranquillity,  in  which  they  have 
been  frequently  painted,  may  be  regarded  as  the 
most  savage  of  the  barbarous  races  of  mankind. 
They  are  in  continual  war  with  each  other.  Differ 
ent  tribes  are  constantly  struggling  to  make  pri 
soners  of  each  other,  in  order  to  provide  slaves  for 
the  Europeans;  and  when  enemies  cannot  be  thus 
obtained,  the  chiefs  frequently  assail  their  own  vil 
lages,  make  their  own  people  slaves,  and  sell  them 
to  the  whites.  Perhaps  a  more  revolting  picture  of 
humanity  has  never  been  drawn  than  may  be  found 
in  the  description  of  Africa;  and  much  as  the  evils 
of  slavery  are  to  be  deplored,  it  is  extremely  doubt 
ful  whether  the  lot  of  the  African  is  not  absolutely 
improved,  by  being,  even  forcibly,  placed  under  the 
protection  of  the  laws  of  a  civilized  and  Christian 
country. 

Clarkson,  the  great  champion  of  Africa,  divides 
the  slaves  into  seven  classes.  The  first  and  largest 
class  consists  of  those  who  are  kidnapped.  It  seems 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Africa  prey  upon  each  other 
like  wild  beasts.  Kidnapping  prevails  throughout 
the  whole  country.  It  is  said  to  be  the  first  princi 
ple  of  the  natives  never  to  go  unarmed.  This  pre 
caution  is  rendered  necessary  by  the  predatory  habits 
of  their  countrymen.  The  second  order  of  slaves  is 
composed  of  those  whose  villages  are  depopulated 
in  capturing  them.  The  third  class  consists  of  those 
convicted  of  crime.  The  fourth  class  includes  pri- 


35 

soners  of  war.  The  fifth  class  comprehends  those 
who  are  slaves  by  birth.  The  number  of  native 
slaves  is  said  to  be  very  large;  and  a  humane  writer 
alleges  that  many  make  a  regular  business  of  breed 
ing  slaves  for  commerce.  The  sixth  and  seventh 
classes  are  composed  of  gamblers  and  insolvents. 

All  writers  agree  in  describing  the  habits  of  the 
native  negro  as  extremely  savage,  and  their  conduct 
towards  each  other  as  treacherous,  lawless,  and  to 
the  last  degree  inhuman.  Violence,  rapine,  and 
slaughter  appear  to  prevail  throughout  that  unhappy 
country.  The  native  wars  are  described  as  merci 
less  and  wanton,  having  no  motive  but  the  capture 
of  prisoners,  and  being  regulated  by  no  law  human 
or  divine.  Mr.  Ashmun,  the  agent  at  Liberia,  gives 
the  following  account  of  the  extermination  of  a  tribe 
by  one  of  the  native  chiefs.  The  incident  took  place 
in  1822. 

"  I  wish  to  afford  the  board  a  full  view  of  our  situa 
tion,  and  of  the  African  character.  The  following 
incident  I  relate,  not  for  its  singularity,  for  similar 
events  take  place  perhaps  every  month  in  the  year; 
but  it  has  fallen  under  my  own  observation,  and  I 
can  vouch  for  its  authenticity.  King  Boatswain,  our 
most  powerful  supporter  and  steady  friend  among 
the  natives,  (so  he  has  uniformly  shown  himself,) 
received  a  quantity  of  goods  in  trade  from  a  French 
slaver,  for  which  he  stipulated  to  pay  young  slaves. 
He  makes  it  a  point  of  honour  to  be  punctual  to  his 
engagements.  The  time  was  at  hand  when  he  ex 
pected  the  return  of  the  slaver.  He  had  not  the 
slaves.  Looking  round  on  the  peaceable  tribes  about 
him  for  his  victims,  he  singled  out  the  Queahs,  a 
small  agricultural  and  trading  people  of  most  inof 
fensive  character.  His  warriors  were  skilfully  dis 
tributed  to  the  different  hamlets,  and  making  a  si 
multaneous  assault  on  the  sleeping  inhabitants,  in 
the  dead  of  night,  accomplished,  without  difficulty 


36 

or  resistance,  the  annihilation  (with  the  exception 
of  a  few  towns)  of  the  whole  tribe.  Every  adult 
man  and  woman  was  murdered;  every  hut  was  fired; 
very  young  children  generally  shared  the  fate  of 
their  parents.  The  boys  and  girls  alone  were  re 
served  to  pay  the  Frenchman." — Such  are  the  hor 
rors  which  surround  the  African  in  his  native  coun 
try. 

The  natives  of  Africa,  instead  of  regarding  the 
slave-trade  as  oppressive  or  calamitous,  do  all  in 
their  power  to  foster  and  encourage  it,  and  oppose 
every  effort  made  by  the  European  governments  to 
suppress  it.  When,  in  consequence  of  the  French 
revolution,  the  demand  for  slaves  had  lessened,  the 
king  of  Dahoiney,  on  the  slave  coast,  sent,  in  1796, 
an  embassy  to  Lisbon,  consisting  of  his  brother  and 
son,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  a  treaty  with  Por 
tugal  and  reviving  the  slave  traffic.  Upon  the  Afri 
can  coast,  since  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade, 
whenever  attempts  have  been  made  to  dislodge  the 
factories  and  fortifications  of  the  slavers,  the  natives 
have  gathered  and  interposed  to  protect  them. 

When  the  slaves  are  collected  in  the  ship  of  the 
slave  trader,  they  are  bound  two  and  two  together, 
and  placed  in  their  apartments,  the  men  occupying 
the  fore  part,  the  women  the  after  part,  and  the 
boys  the  middle,  of  the  vessel.  The  tops  of  these 
apartments  are  grated  for  the  admission  of  air.  The 
vessels  are  generally  from  eleven  to  eight  hun 
dred  tons,  and  carry  from  thirty  to  fifteen  hun 
dred  slaves  at  a  time.  The  apartments  vary  in 
height  from  six  feet  to  less  than  three  feet.  In  this 
confined  room,  they  are  packed  in  the  smallest  pos 
sible  shape — each  individual  being  allowed,  in  the 
best  regulated  ships,  but  sixteen  English  inches  in 
width,  two  feet  eight  inches  in  height,  and  five  feet 
eleven  inches  in  length.  It  is  unnecessary  to  paint 


37 

the  horrors  of  such  a  situation.  In  an  atmosphere 
heated  and  polluted  to  suffocation,  with  scarcely 
space  to  move,  and  crowded  by  hundreds  in  the  hold 
of  a  vessel,  it  is  not  strange  that  they  die  in  great 
numbers.  In  fine  weather,  they  are  brought  upon 
deck  and  made  to  exercise  themselves,  by  dancing 
and  singing;  and,  as  the  death  or  illness  of  the  slaves 
is  a  heavy  loss  to  the  trader,  we  have  no  reason  to 
believe  that  they  neglect  the  means  in  their  power 
to  preserve  their  health,  or  that  they  treat  them  with 
unnecessary  and  wanton  cruelty.  Their  design  is 
gain;  and,  though  they  exhibit  but  little  humanity 
in  its  pursuit,  and  are  willing  to  perpetrate  any 
enormity  for  money,  it  is  not  probable  that  they 
would  indulge  a  cruelty  equally  unnecessary  and 
unprofitable.  The  negro  is  regarded,  in  their  horrid 
philosophy,  as  a  valuable  animal,  and  is  treated  with 
neither  more  nor  less  humanity  than  they  would 
treat  a  valuable  horse.  The  sufferings  of  the  poor 
negro,  during  the  voyage,  are,  however,  undeniable, 
and  may  be  conceived  from  the  fact  that  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  per  cent,  die  on  the  passage.  Indeed,  the 
number  is  sometimes  much  greater;  and  Wilber- 
force  stated,  that  "  out  of  every  lot  of  one  hundred 
shipped  from  Africa,  seventeen  died  in  about  nine 
weeks,  and  not  more  than  fifty  lived  to  become  ef 
fective  labourers  in  our  islands." 

Of  the  extent  of  the  slave  trade  it  is  difficult  to 
speak  with  confidence.  When  the  subject  was  taken 
up  in  the  British  House  of  Commons,  it  was  assert 
ed,  that  the  British  alone  bought  40,000  slaves  annu 
ally.  Mr.  Dundas  of  the  British  Parliament,  stated, 
that,  in  1791,  the  British  importation  consisted  of 
74,000.  From  the  commencement  of  the  trade  up 
to  the  present  time,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
several  millions  of  slaves  have  been  taken  from  the 
shores  of  Africa. 
4 


38 

The  slave  trade  received,  at  different  times,  the 
express  sanction  of  the  governments  of  all  the  com 
mercial  nations  of  Europe.  The  Spanish  govern 
ment,  the  French  under  Louis  XIII.,  and  the  Eng 
lish  under  queen  Elizabeth,  formally  permitted  the 
traffic.  The  trade  was  regarded  as  legitimate  and 
proper;  and  received  the  decided  encouragement  of 
the  governments  interested  in  its  support. 

The  slave  trade  was  abolished  by  Virginia,  a  sove 
reign  and  independent  state,  in  1778.  To  the  Old 
Dominion,  therefore,  belongs  the  honour  of  having 
struck  the  first  decisive  blow  at  that  inhuman  traffic. 
Several  other  states  of  this  confederacy  followed.  In 
1792,  Denmark  passed  a  law,  providing  for  the  abo 
lition  of  the  trade  in  1803.  The  importation  of  slaves 
ceased  in  the  United  States  in  January,  1808,  and  in 
Great  Britain  and  her  colonies  in  March  of  the  same 
year.  In  1815,  Portugal  provided  for  the  abolition 
of  the  slave  trade  in  1823.  France,  in  1815,  con 
sented  to  its  immediate  abolition.  Spain,  in  1817, 
agreed  to  abolish  it  in  1820.  The  Netherlands  pro 
hibited  it  in  1818;  Sweden  in  1813;  and  Brazil  in 
1826. 

Notwithstanding  the  prohibition  of  the  slave  trade 
by  almost  every  government  in  Christendom,  and 
the  great  efforts  made  for  its  effectual  suppression, 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  still  exists  to 
a  frightful  degree,  and  that  what  it  may  have  lost  in 
extent  it  has  gained  in  cruelty.  The  trade  is  now 
carried  on  by  stealth,  and  many  restraints  are  add 
ed,  which  before  the  abolition  of  the  trade  were 
unnecessary.  Mr.  Walsh,  in  his  notices  of  Brazil, 
in  1828  and  1829, says,  "this  horrid  traffic  in  human 
flesh  is  nearly  as  extensively  carried  on  as  ever,  and 
under  circumstances  perhaps  of  a  more  revolting 
character.  The  restriction  of  slavery  to  the  south 
of  the  line,  was,  in  fact,  nugatory,  and  evaded  on 


39 

all  occasions.  The  whole  number  of  slaves  captured 
by  our  cruisers,  and  afterwards  emancipated,  for 
nine  years,  from  June  1819  to  July  1828,  was  13,281, 
being  about  1400  on  an  average  each  year.  During 
that  period,  it  is  supposed  that  nearly  100,000  hu 
man  beings  were  annually  transported  as  slaves 
from  different  parts  of  the  coast,  of  whom  more 
than  43,000  were  legally  imported  into  one  city 
alone." 


CHAPTER  IV, 


Origin  and  Progress  of  Slavery  in  this  Country. 

SLAVERY  has  existed  in  this  country  from  a  very 
early  period.  It  was  introduced  shortly  after  its 
settlement,  contributed  to  its  infant  vigour,  and  has 
since  "  grown  with  its  growth  and  strengthened 
with  its  strength."  It  was  at,  and  after,  the  time 
of  its  introduction,  common  to  all  the  European 
colonies  in  America.  Each  of  the  Anglo-American 
provinces  comprised,  afc  different  times,  a  greater  or 
less  number  of  slaves;  and  all  were  equally  involved 
in  the  sanction  of  slave  holding.  It  is  true,  that  the 
North  has  never  contained  so  large  a  number  of 
slaves  as  the  South.  The  climate  of  the  southern 
provinces,  the  nature  of  their  agricultural  pursuits, 
and  the  necessities  of  their  inhabitants,  induced  the 
extensive  employment  of  slave  labour.  In  the  North, 
the  negro  would  have  been  a  burthen,  not  an  aid. 
The  hardy  pilgrims  of  New  England,  so  far  from 
needing  the  labour  of  the  African,  could  scarce  have 
spared  him  the  means  of  subsistence.  Had  the  pil 
grims  fainted  beneath  the  .sultry  sun  of  the  South, 
had  they  been  engaged  in  the  same  pursuits  as  their 
southern  brethren,  and  felt  the  same  necessity  for 
aid,  they  would  not  now  be  enabled  to  boast  their 
exemption  from  a  slave  population.  The  absence 
of  slavery  in  the  Northern  states,  is  wholly  to  be 
ascrib^i  to  the  fact,  that  slaves  have  not  been  neces 
sary  nor  even  valuable  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  sec- 


41 

tion  of  our  country.  It  is  true  that  they  have  always 
felt  a  repugnance  to  the  introduction  of  Africans  into 
the  country,  but  that  repugnance  has  not  been  more 
warmly  cherished,  or  more  forcibly  manifested  than 
by  the  people  of  the  South;  and  those  citizens  of  our 
Northern  states  who  express  such  a  holy  abhorrence 
of  slavery  in  other  sections  of  our  country,  should 
be  reminded  that  their  exemption  is  wholly  the  re 
sult  of  the  accidents  of  situation  and  climate;  and 
that  they  would  themselves  be  slave-holders,  had  it 
not  been  their  interest,  or  the  interest  of  their  an 
cestors,  to  be  otherwise. 

The  importation  of  slaves  from  Africa  to  the 
West  India  islands  was  commenced,  and  had  at 
tained  a  considerable  height,  before  the  enterprize 
of  England,  excited  by  the  gallant  Raleigh,  had 
been  turned  to  the  settlement  of  North  America. 
England  had  already  engaged  successfully  in  the 
slave  trade.  Hawkins,  in  1562,  entered  into  the 
commerce,  and  found  its  profits  so  great,  that  Queen 
Elizabeth  herself  did  not  scruple,  not  only  to  sanc 
tion  its  prosecution,  but  to  share  its  responsibility 
and  profits.  This  was  the  commencement  of  a  pur 
suit  which  was  afterwards  followed  by  England  with 
unequalled  ardour  and  unequalled  success.  At  a  sub 
sequent  period,  she  almost  monopolized  the  slave 
trade;  and  attained  a  degree  of  skill,  hardihood  and 
cruelty  in  its  prosecution,  which  her  rivals  in  the 
hateful  traffic  were  never  able  to  surpass.  To  Eng 
land,  that  nation  of  philanthropists,  whose  people 
have  taken  so  deep  an  interest  in  the  subject  of 
American  slavery,  is  to  be  ascribed  the  importation 
of  a  majority  of  those  wretched  beings  who  were 
torn  from  their  native  country  and  sold  into  slavery. 
But  of  this  hereafter. 

African  slaves  were  first  introduced  into  the  North 
American  colonies,  in  1620.  A  Dutch  ship  arrived 
4* 


42 

in  Virginia,  having  on  board  twenty  slaves,  who 
were  sold  to  individuals  in  the  colony. — The  trade 
thus  commenced  was  continued,  but,  in  consequence 
of  the  opposition  of  the  colony,  did  not,  for  many 
years,  become  extensive.  Thirty  years  after  the 
first  arrival  of  slaves  in  Virginia,  that  colony  con 
tained  fifty  whites  to  one  negro.  Even  after  seventy 
years  had  elapsed  from  the  date  of  the  foundation  of 
the  colony,  it  comprised,  proportionally,  much  fewer 
slaves  than  several  of  the  Northern  states  at  the  time 
of  the  war  of  independence.  It  was  not  until  the 
slave  trade  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  and  was 
prosecuted  under  the  immediate  smile  of  the  Eng 
lish  government,  that  the  number  of  blacks  in  the 
North  American  colonies  was  greatly  increased. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  mother  country,  slavery 
was  rapidly  extended.  The  want  of  labourers  in  the 
Southern  colonies  enabled  the  traders,  notwithstand 
ing  the  opposition  of  the  local  legislatures,  to  throw 
large  numbers  of  slaves  into  the  country.  Some 
years  after,  we  find  that  the  blacks  outnumbered  the 
whites  in  the  South.  In  1730,  there  were  twenty- 
eight  thousand  negroes  in  South  Carolina.  In  1740, 
the  slaves  in  South  Carolina  were  three  times  as 
numerous  as  the  whites.  The  blacks  in  Virginia 
were  also,  at  that  period,  greatly  superior  in  num 
bers  to  their  masters.  For  a  long  time  afterwards, 
the  slaves  continued  to  be  a  majority.  In  1763,  the 
black  population  of  Virginia  was  one  hundred  thou 
sand;  and  the  white  seventy  thousand.  In  South 
Carolina  the  blacks  were  ninety  thousand;  and  the 
whites  only  forty  thousand. 

The  slave  trade,  notwithstanding  the  repugnance 
of  the  colonies,  was  prosecuted  up  to  the  era  of  the 
revolution.  The  number  of  slaves  continued  to  in 
crease  accordingly  up  to  that  time.  The  number 
of  slaves,  and  their  proportion  to  the  whites,  from 


43 


to   1830,  will  appear   by  the   following 


1790  up 
table. 

Census  of 
1790,  - 
1800,  - 
1810,  - 
1820,  - 
1830,  - 


The  relative  proportion  of  the  free  and  slave 
population,  may  be  better  understood  by  the  fol 
lowing: 

In  1790,  for  every  100  free  persons  there  were  21.59  slaves. 
1800,       "         do.  "  18.99      " 


Slaves. 
697,697 
896,849 
1,191,364 
*         1,538,064 
2,010,436 

Total  Population 
3,929,827 
5,305,925 
7,289,314 
9,638,181 
12,856,407 

1810,  " 
1820,  " 
1830,  " 


do. 
do. 
do. 


19.53  " 
18.99  " 
18.53  " 


It  is  well  known  that  the  African,  fresh  from  his 
savage  wilds,  is  much  more  intractable  than  the  ne 
gro  born  in  this  country.  The  genial  influence  of 
civilization,  the  advantages  of  Christianity,  and  a 
sense  of  the  kindness  and  protection  of  the  master, 
render  the  American-born  negro  often  a  domestic 
friend,  and  attach  him  to  the  family  of  his  master 
so  fondly  that  he  is  prepared  to  defend  them  with 
his  life  rather  than  assail  them.  The  early  Africans 
i|i  this  country,  though  more  gentle  and  voluptuous 
than  those  imported  into  the  West  Indies,  were 
fiercer  and  more  prone  to  insurrection  than  any  of 
their  descendants.  Upon  several  different  occasions 
they  rose  upon  their  masters;  but  notwithstanding 
their  fearful  superiority  in  numbers,  were,  without 
difficulty,  quelled.  In  1738,  the  blacks  of  South 
Carolina  revolted,  but  were  subdued.  At  an  earlier 
period,  in  1712,  the  negroes  in  New  York  rose,  set 
fire  to  the  city,  and  killed  those  who  attempted  to 


44 

stay  the  conflagration.  They  were,  without  serious 
difficulty  quelled;  and  a  large  number  were  executed 
for  their  offences. 

The  rapid  increase  of  the  negro  population  of  the 
south,  until  the  time  of  the  revolution,  is  tobe  ascribed 
not  merely  to  natural  increase,  the  result  of  the  kind 
treatment  of  the  southern  slave  holder,  the  lightness 
of  his  work,  and  the  abundance  of  his  food,  but  to  ex 
tensive  and  continued  importation.  The  slave  trade 
was  prosecuted  with  energy  until  the  declaration  of 
independence  enabled  the  Americans  to  suppress  it. 
The  privilege  was  embraced  as  soon  as  circumstances 
rendered  it  prudent.  Virginia  abolished  the  slave 
trade  in  1778.  Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts,  Con 
necticut,  and  Rhode  Island  suppressed  it  in  1780,  87, 
88.  The  American  continental  congress  passed  a 
resolution  against  the  purchase  of  imported  slaves; 
and,  not  having  power  to  suppress  it,  published  an 
exhortation  to  the  colonies  to  abandon  the  trade  al 
together. 

In  the  formation  of  a  constitution  for  the  United 
States,  in  1787,  the  following  clauses  in  relation  to 
slavery,  were  incorporated  with  the  national  charter. 

"  Representation  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  appor 
tioned  among  the  several  states  which  may  be  in 
cluded  within  this  union,  according  to  their  respec 
tive  numbers,  which  shall  be  determined  by  adding 
to  the  whole  number  of  free  persons,  including  those 
bound  to  service  for  a  term  of  years,  and  exclud 
ing  Indians  not  taxed,  three-fifths  of  all  other  per 
sons" 

"  The  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as 
any  of  the  states  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to 
admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  congress  prior 
to  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight; 
but  a  tax,  or  duty,  may  be  imposed  on  such  importa 
tion,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person." 


45 

Though  the  last  quoted  provision  of  the  constitu 
tion  prevented  the  suppression  of  the  importation  of 
slaves,  before  1808,  the  third  congress,  under  the 
present  government,  prohibited  the  carrying  on  of 
the  slave  trade  from  our  ports.  Several  subsequent 
enactments  discouraging  and  restraining  the  trade 
were  passed:  and  on  the  2d  of  March,  1807,  the 
importation  of  slaves  was  fully  and  effectually  pro 
hibited  under  the  heaviest  penalties. 

Of  the  course  of  the  South,  in  relation  to  this  sub 
ject,  Mr.  Walsh  makes  the  following  remarks:  "  In 
truth,  the  representatives  from  our  southern  states 
have  been  foremost  in  testifying  their  abhorrence 
of  the  traffic;  an  abhorrence  springing  from  a  deep 
sense,  not  merely  of  its  iniquity,  but  of  the  magni 
tude  of  the  evil  which  it  has  entailed  upon  the 
country.  It  was  only  at  the  last  session  of  the 
American  congress  (March  1,  1819,)  that  a  member 
from  Virginia  proposed  the  following  regulation,  to 
which  the  house  of  representatives  agreed  without  a 
division.  *  Every  person  who  shall  import  into  the 
United  States,  or  knowingly  aid  or  abet  the  impor 
tation  into  the  United  States,  of  any  African  negro, 
or  other  person,  with  intent  to  sell  or  use  such  negro, 
or  other  person,  as  a  slave,  or  shall  purchase  any 
such  slave,  knowing  him  or  her  to  be  thus  imported, 
shall,  on  conviction  thereof,  in  any  circuit  court  of 
the  United  States,  be  punished  with  death.'  The 
rarity  of  capital  punishment  in  the  penal  code  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  extreme  aversion  from  a 
recourse  to  it,  universally  prevailing,  make  this  in 
stance  a  potent  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  the  disposi 
tions  which  we  profess  respecting  the  slave  trade." 

At  the  same  session,  congress  passed  a  law  pro 
viding  for  the  effectual  suppression  of  the  slave 
traffic.  From  that  time  to  the  present,  the  importa 
tion  of  slaves,  denounced  as  it  is  by  the  laws,  and 


46 

abhorred  by  the  people,  must  have  been  extremely 
limited.  Our  slave  population  has  since  increased 
with  that  rapidity  which  the  comforts  and  abundance 
of  their  condition  induce;  but  not,  as  will  be  seen 
hereafter,  in  a  ratio  greater  than  the  increase  of  the 
whites,  nor  sufficient  to  justify  the  fears  of  those 
nervous  patriots  who  apprehend  danger  from  their 
numbers.  They  have  remained  quiet  and  contented, 
with  the  exception  of  a  limited  insurrection  caused 
by  the  sinister  interference  of  misguided  fanatics. 
The  South  has  grown  affluent  in  her  slave  popula 
tion;  and  the  South-west,  with  the  aid  of  their  ro 
bust  and  well-directed  labour,  is  improving  with  a 
rapidity  almost  unequalled.  Meanwhile,  the  North 
has  shared  generously  in  the  universal  welfare.  Her 
manufactories  have  been  supplied  with  Southern 
cotton,  and  have  again  found  outlets  in  the  Southern 
markets.  North  and  South  have  filled  the  stations 
and  performed  the  duties  assigned  them  by  nature; 
and  each  have  equally  benefited  by  the  institution 
of  slavery.  The  slaves  themselves,  without  a  com 
plaint,  or  a  cause  of  complaint,  have  lived  on  in 
tranquillity  and  comfort,  and  attained  a  degree  of 
moral  and  religious  excellence  which  in  no  other 
country  or  condition  have  they  been  able  to  reach. 


CHAPTER  V. 


America  not  responsible  for  the  introduction  of 
Slavery  into  this  country — Of  the  course  of 
the  British  Government,  fyc. 

As  the  bitterest  invective  has  been  used  by  the 
writers  and  speakers  of  Great  Britain  against  this 
country  on  account  of  its  sanction  of  slavery,  and  as 
even  among  our  own  citizens  at  the  North  many  are 
found  who  regard  it  as  a  national  crime,  it  may  be 
well  to  show  how  far  the  Americans  are  responsible 
for  it,  and  who,  if  it  be  a  crime,  are  the  guilty  au 
thors  of  African  slavery.  It  will  be  our  aim,  by  a 
plain  and  succinct  narrative  of  the  facts  connected 
with  the  introduction  of  Africans  into  this  country 
to  prove, 

1.  That  the  people  of  this  country  did  not  intro 
duce  slavery  within  its  borders. 

2.  That  they  opposed  its  introduction  with  ardour 
and  energy. 

3.  That  this  opposition  was  general  with  the  co 
lonies — commenced  at  the  introduction  of  slavery, 
and  continued  until  it  succeeded   in  effecting   the 
abolition  of  the  slave  trade. 

4.  That  the  course  of  the  colonies  on  this  subject 
was  not  only  repulsed,  but  resented  by  the  English 
government. 

5.  That  some  of  the  Southern  states  were  pre 
eminently  distinguished  by  the  boldness  and  energy 
with  which  they  opposed  the  slave  trade. 


48 

6.  That  the  anxiety  of  the  Americans  to  prevent 
the  introduction  of  slaves  into  the  country,  was  one 
of  the  causes  which  induced  the  declaration  of  in 
dependence. 

7.  That  slavery  was  introduced  into,  and  entailed 
upon,  this  country,  by  Great  Britain. 

8.  That  the  English    government  directly  sanc 
tioned  and  aided  the  importation  of  Africans  into 
America. 

9.  That  the  English  are  accountable  for  a  greater 
amount  of  atrocity  in  the  prosecution  of  the  slave 
trade,  than  any  other  people. 

10.  That  they  engaged  more  extensively  in  the 
ferade,  urged  it  with  more  skill  and  cruelty,   and 
effected  a  greater  amount  of  importation,  than  any  of 
their  rivals. 

11.  That  they  opposed  the  abolition  of  the  trade 
until  it  became  their  interest  to  abolish  it,  and  then 
made  a  merit  of  an  act  of  craft  and  policy. 

12.  That  the  English  people,  ever  since  its  abo 
lition    by  parliament,    have   been    engaged  in    the 
trade  to  a  great  extent. 

The  English  government  has  been  no  stranger  to 
those  acts  of  oppression  in  which  slavery  originates. 
We  have  seen  that  the  Anglo-Saxons  sold  their  ser 
vants  as  slaves.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  a  law 
was  passed,  authorizing  the  sale  of  "all  idle  vaga 
bonds"  as  slaves.  The  Scots  taken  at  the  battle  of 
Dunbar  were  sent  into  involuntary  slavery  in  New 
England.  Indeed,  it  seems  to  have  been  the  esta 
blished  practice  of  the  times  to  ship  prisoners  to  this 
country.  At  the  same  time,  crowded  and  cruel  ex- 
portations  of  Irish  Catholics  were  made,  accompa 
nied  by  all  the  atrocities  of  the  negro  slave  trade. 
"In  1685,"  says  Bancroft,  in  his  History  of  the 
United  States,  "  when  nearly  a  thousand  of  the  pri 
soners,  condemned  for  participating  in  the  insurrec- 


49 

tion  of  Monmouth,  were  sentenced  to  transportation, 
some  gentlemen  of  influence  at  court,  among  others 
sir  Christopher  Musgrave,  begged  of  the  monarch 
the  convicted  insurgents  as  a  merchantable  com 
modity,  and  satisfied  their  avarice  by  the  sale  of  their 
countrymen  into  slavery."  These  cases  differ  in  no 
particular  from  African  slavery.  If  the  people  of 
England,  at  so  late  and  refined  a  period,  were  willing 
to  traffic  in  the  flesh  and  blood  of  their  own  kin  and 
colour — we  need  not  wonder  at  their  eager  and  in 
human  ardour  in  the  African  slave  trade. 

From  1567,  when  queen  Elizabeth  became  the 
partner  of  sir  John  Hawkins  in  stealing  slaves  from 
the  shores  of  Africa,  and  smuggling  them,  against 
the  laws  of  Spain,  into  the  Spanish  colonies — from 
that  period,  up  to  the  time  of  the  American  Revolu 
tion,  the  English  commerce  in  slaves  was  prosecuted 
without  intermission,  and  to  an  almost  incredible  ex 
tent.  Mr.  Walsh's  Appeal — a  work  which  does 
honour  to  American  literature,  and  from  which  we 
have  derived  much  valuable  information  on  this 
subject — says,  "  England  herself  supplied  her  North 
American  colonies  from  the  outset  with  negroes, 
whom  she  sought,  seized,  and  manacled  on  the  coast 
of  Africa,  and  dragged  and  sold  into  this  continent. 
The  institution  of  negro  slavery — 'the  great  curse 
of  America' — lies  at  her  door.  What  was  her  mo 
tive  ?  The  alleviation  of  the  lot  of  her  sons,  whom 
she  had  driven  into  the  distant  wilderness?  No 
British  writer  has  counted  so  far  upon  the  simplicity 
of  mankind,  as  to  hazard  this  explanation.  The 
motive  was  sheer  love  of  gain;  omniverous  avarice, 
looking  not  merely  to  the  immediate  profit  upon  the 
cargo  of  human  flesh,  but  to  the  greater  and  perma 
nent  productiveness  of  the  settlements,  whose  staples 
were  to  be  monopolized  by  the  mother  country." 

The  slave  trade  received  the  sanction  of  the  Bri- 
5 


50 

tish  government  from  its  commencement,  and  retain 
ed  it  to  its  close.  The  reigns  of  Elizabeth,  Charles 
I.  and  II.,  James  II.,  and  William  III.*  afforded  it 
the  most  marked  and  active  encouragement.  The 
minister  of  the  latter  declared  the  trade  to  be  "high 
ly  beneficial  to  the  nation."  The  sanction  of  govern 
ment  was  expressed  not  only  by  acts  of  Parliament, 
bat  by  the  aid  of  every  department,  and  the  policy 
of  every  administration.  The  course  pursued  to 
wards  the  colonies,  on  this  subject,  was  uniform. 
In  1765,  the  governor  of  Jamaica,  in  opposition  to 
an  attempt  made  by-  that  colony  to  abolish  the  slave 
trade  to  the  island,  said  that  his  instructions  would 
never  allow  him  to  approve  the  measure;  and  when, 
in  1774,  the  attempt  was  repeated,  Great  Britain,  by 
the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  President  of  the  Board,  re 
plied — "  We  cannot  allow  the  colonies  to  check  or 
discourage,  in  any  degree,  a  traffic  so  beneficial  to 
the  nation/' 

The  slave-trade  was  commenced  in  England  be- 


*  In  the  16th  of  James  I.  a  royal  charter  was  granted  to 
a  number  of  eminent  citizens  of  London,  as  a  joint  stock 
company,  to  trade  with  Africa.  Another  company  was  cre 
ated  by'Charles  I.  "  On  the  accession  of  Charles  II."  says 
Davenant,  "a  representation  being-  soon  made  to  him,  that 
the  British  plantations  in  America  were,  by  degrees,  advanc 
ing  to  such  a  condition  as  necessarily  required  a  greater  sup 
ply  of  servants  and  labourers  than  could  well  be  spared  from 
England,  without  the  danger  of  depopulating  his  majesty's 
native  dominions,  his  majesty  did  (upon  account  of  supplying 
these  plantations  with  negroes}  publicly  invite  all  his  subjects 
to  the  subscription  of  a  new  joint  stock,  for  recovering  and 
carrying  on  the  trade  to  Africa/'  In  1792,  twenty-six  acts 
of  Parliament  could  be  enumerated,  encouraging  and  sanction 
ing  the  trade.  The  English  government,  in  several  treaties 
with  Spain,  engaged  to  supply  her  colonies  with  negroes ; 
and,  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  Spain  granted  to  the  English 
sovereign  the  contract  for  introducing  4800  negroes  annually 
into  the  Spanish  dominions,  for  thirty  years. 


51 

fore  the  existence  of  the  American  colonies.  After 
their  settlement,  and  the  introduction  of  slavery 
by  the  mother  country,  the  colonies  had  no  power 
over  the  commerce,  and  cannot  be  regarded  as  an 
swerable  for  its  continuance.  That  they  were  sin 
cerely  and  decidedly  opposed  to  it,  is  demonstrated 
by  their  early,  anxious,  and  continued  efforts 
against  it. 

On  the  introduction  of  slaves  into  South  Carolina, 
that  colony  passed  a  law  prohibiting  further  impor 
tation;  but  Great  Britain  rejected. the  law,  rebuked 
the  colony,  and  declared  the  trade  «  beneficial  and 
necessary  to  the  mother  country/' 

Virginia  was  early  and  constant  in  her  efforts  to  dis 
courage  the  trade.  "  The  negro  race,"  says  Bancroft, 
"  was,  from  the  first,  regarded  with  disgust,  and  its 
union  with  the  whites  forbidden  under  ignominious 
penalties."  "  The  laws  of  Virginia,"  he  also  re 
marks,  "  at  a  very  early  period  discouraged  its  in 
crease  by  a  special  tax  upon  female  slaves."  In 
1662,  the  Virginia  legislature  passed  a  law  prohibit 
ing  "  Englishmen,  traders  and  others"  from  bring 
ing  Indians,  as  servants  or  slaves,  into  the  colony, 
thus  expressing  their  anxiety  to  suppress  the  trade 
when  permitted  to  do  so  by  the  mother  country. 
Judge  Tucker,  in  his  Notes  on  Blackstone,  enume 
rates  twenty-three  acts  by  the  Virginia  legislature, 
imposing  duties  on  slaves  imported  into  the  colony. 
This  duty  amounted,  at  one  time,  to  twenty  per 
cent.  The  following  passage  occurs  in  Brougham's 
Colonial  Policy.  "  Every  measure  proposed  by  the 
Colonial  legislatures  that  did  not  meet  the  entire 
concurrence  of  the  British  cabinet,  was  sure  to  be 
rejected,  in  the  last  instance,  by  the  crown.  In  the 
colonies,  the  direct  power  of  the  crown,  backed  by 
all  the  resources  of  the  mother  country,  prevents 
any  measure  obnoxious  to  the  crown  from  being 


52 

carried  into  effect,  even  by  the  unanimous  efforts  of 
the  Colonial  legislature.  If  examples  were  required, 
we  might  refer  to  the  history  of  the  abolition  of  the 
slave-trade  in  Virginia.  A  duty  on  the  importation 
of  negroes  had  been  imposed,  amounting  to  a  prohi 
bition.  The  assembly,  induced  by  a  temporary  pe 
culiarity  of  circumstances,  repealed  this  law  by  a 
bill  which  received  the  immediate  sanction  of  the 
crown.  But  never  afterwards  could  the  royal  assent 
be  obtained  to  a  renewal  of  the  duty,  although,  as 
we  are  told  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  all  manner  of  expedi 
ents  were  tried  for  this  purpose,  by  almost  every 
subsequent  assembly  that  met  under  the  colonial 
government.  The  very  first  assembly  that  met 
under  the  new  constitution,  finally  prohibited  the 
traffic." 

In  1772,  the  Virginia  assembly  prepared,  and 
transmitted  to  the  throne,  a  petition  for  leave  to 
abolish  the  slave-trade  to  that  colony,  from  which 
the  following  is  extracted. 

"  We  are  encouraged  to  look  up  to  the  throne 
and  implore  your  Majesty's  paternal  assistance  in 
averting  a  calamity  of  a  most  alarming  nature. 

"  The  importation  of  slaves  into  the  colonies 
from  the  coast  of  Africa,  hath  long  been  considered 
as  a  trade  of  great  inhumanity,  and,  under  its  pre 
sent  encouragement,  we  have  too  much  reason  to 
fear,  will  endanger  the  very  existence  of  your  Ma 
jesty's  American  dominions. 

"  We  are  sensible  that  some  of  your  Majesty's 
subjects  of  Great  Britain  may  reap  emolument  from 
this  sort  of  traffic,  but  when  we  consider  that  it 
greatly  retards  the  settlement  of  the  colonies  with 
more  useful  inhabitants,  and  may  in  time  have  the 
most  destructive  influence,  we  presume  to  hope 
that  the  interest  of  a  few  will  be  disregarded  when 
placed  in  competition  with  the  security  and  happi- 


53 

ness -of  such  numbers  of  your  Majesty's  dutiful  and 
loyal  subjects. 

"  Deeply  impressed  with  these  sentiments,  we 
most  humbly  beseech  your  Majesty  to  remove  all 
those  restraints  on  your  Majesty's  governors  of 
this  colony  which  inhibit  their  assenting  to  such 
laws  as  might  check  so  very  pernicious  a  com 
merce"  The  petition  was  rejected. 

Massachusetts  exhibited  equal  boldness  and  ardour 
in  her  opposition  to  the  slave-trade.  In  1645,  two 
citizens  of  Boston,  one  a  member  of  the  church, 
fitted  out  a  ship  and  sailed  for  Guinea,  to  trade  for 
negroes.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  the  first 
instance  of  participation  in  the  traffic,  on  the  part  of 
the  colonies,  is  to  be  referred  to  that  state  which  has 
since  become  the  favourite  laboratory  of  the  aboli 
tionists  and  incendiaries.  The  colonial  commerce 
in  slaves  was  always  confined,  principally,  if  not 
wholly,  to  the  traders  of  the  North.  Whatever 
might  have  been  the  conduct  of  individuals,  the  co 
lony  manifested  the  most  anxious  determination  to 
discourage  the  trade.  When  the  vessel,  above  re 
ferred  to,  arrived,  the  traders  were  committed  for 
the  offence;  and  the  General  Court  directed  that  the 
negroes  be  restored  to  their  native  country.  About 
the  same  time,  a  law  was  passed  prohibiting  com 
merce  in  slaves,  except  such  as  were  taken  in  lawful 
war  or  condemned  to  servitude  for  their  crimes; 
and,  at  a  much  earlier  date,  the  colony  incorporated 
with  its  penal  code,  an  enactment  punishing  man- 
stealing  with  death.  In  1703,  Massachusetts  im 
posed  a  duty  of  £4  upon  every  negro  imported  into 
the  colony.  Other  efforts  were  made,  but  failed  in 
consequence  of  the  opposition  of  the  crown.  The 
instructions  to  Governor  Wentworth  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  dated  June  30th,  1761,  contained  this  clause: 
"  You  are  not  to  give  your  assent  to,  or  pass  any 
5  * 


54 

)  imposing  duties  on  negroes  imported  into 
New  Hampshire."  This  appears  to  have  been  the 
tenor  of  the  orders  of  all  the  governors  on  this  sub 
ject.  In  1774,  when  the  legislature  of  Massachu 
setts  passed  a  bill,  entitled,  "  An  act  to  prevent  the 
importation  of  negroes  and  others,  as  slaves  into  this 
province,77  Governor  Huchinson  refused  his  sanc 
tion  and  dissolved  the  assembly.  He  afterwards,  in 
answer  to  a  deputation  of  blacks,  stated  that  he  had 
acted  under  his  instructions.  His  successor,  General 
Gage,  was  also  instructed  to  refuse  his  sanction  to 
any  law,  the  object  of  which  was  the  discourage 
ment  of  the  slave-trade. 

Pennsylvania  adopted  a  similar  policy,  and  passed 
various  laws  intended  to  discourage  the  introduction 
of  slaves.  All  the  colonies,  in  short,  united  in  de 
precating  and  abhorring  the  introduction  of  negro 
slavery  into  the  country,  and  passed  ineffectual  en 
actments  for  its  discouragement.  The  efforts  of  the 
colonies,  stripped  as  they  were  of  all  power  of  legis 
lation  on  the  subject  without  the  royal  assent,  neces 
sarily  proved  unavailing.  The  mother  country  was 
not  to  be  turned  aside  from  her  purpose.  If  the 
shrieks  of  afflicted  Africa  were  unable  to  move  her, 
if  she  was  willing  to  glut  her  "  omnivorous  ava 
rice,"  as  Mr.  Walsh  has  justly  termed  it,  on  the 
tears  and  blood  of  the  slave,  it  was  not  to  be  ex 
pected  that  the  prayers  and  remonstrances  of  her 
feeble  colonies — always  the  victim  of  her  selfish 
and  merciless  policy — could  shake  or  soften  her 
stern  and  unscrupulous  pursuit  of  gold. 

That  the  policy  of  England  on  this  subject,  and 
her  cold  and  sneering  disregard  of  the  interests  and 
anxiety  of  the  colonies,  did  much  to  accelerate 
their  subsequent  alienation — we  have  every  reason 
to  believe.  Mr.  Burke,  in  his  speech  on  the  conci 
liation  with  America,  referred  to  her  "  refusal  to 


55 

deal  any  more  in  the  inhuman  traffic  of  the  negro 
slaves,  as  one  of  the  causes  of  her  quarrel  with  Great 
Britain/'  The  first  clause  of  the  constitution  of  the 
state  of  Virginia,  framed  immediately  after  the  com 
mencement  of  the  revolution,  mentions  "  the  inhu 
man  use  of  the  royal  negative"  to  prevent  the 
discouragement  of  the  slave-trade,  as  one  of  the 
grievances  which  induced  a  recourse  to  the  despe 
rate  remedy  of  revolution.  The  course  of  Great 
Britain  on  this  subject  is  detailed,  with  great  force 
and  justice,  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  original  draught  of 
the  Declaration  of  American  Independence. 

"He  (King  George)  has  waged  civil  war  against 
human  nature  itself,  violating  its  most  sacred  rights 
of  life  and  liberty,  in  the  persons  of  a  distant  people 
who  never  offended  him:  captivating  and  carrying 
them  into  slavery  in  another  hemisphere,  or  to 
incur  miserable  death  in  their  transportation  thither. 
This  piratical  warfare,  the  opprobrium  of  infidel 
powers,  is  the  warfare  of  the  Christian  king  of  Great 
Britain:  determined  to  keep  open  a  market  where 
men  should  be  bought  and  sold,  he  prostituted  his 
negative  for  suppressing  every  legislative  attempt  to 
prohibit  or  restrain  this  execrable  commerce;  and 
that  this  assemblage  of  horrors  might  want  no  fact 
of  distinguished  dye,  he  is  now  exciting  these  very 
people  to  rise  in  arms  among  us,  and  to  purchase 
that  liberty  of  which  he  has  deprived  them,  by 
murdering  the  people  upon  whom  he  also  obtruded 
them,  thus  paying  off  former  crimes,  committed 
against  the  liberties  of  one  people,  with  crimes 
which  he  urges  them  to  commit  against  the  lives  of 
another." 

This,  it  must  be  reluctantly  admitted,  is  a  correct 
portraiture  of  the  policy  of  Great  Britain  towards 
this  country,  in  relation  to  the  subject  of  slavery. 
While  it  was  her  interest  to  darken  our  shores  with 


56 

African  slaves,  the  inhumanity  of  the  commerce 
was  disregarded;  the  prayers  of  the  colonies  were 
repulsed;  and  her  government  and  people  united  to 
entail  upon  us  for  ever  a  servile  population.  No 
sooner,  however,  is  the  commerce  checked  by  the 
oppressed  colonies,  than,  in  a  sudden  burst  of  piety, 
she  is  agonized  at  the  existence  of  slavery;  shocked 
at  our  turpitude  in  holding  in  bondage  those  whom 
she  has  forced  upon  us  in  such  numbers,  that  to  free 
them  would  involve  both  them  and  us  in  common 
ruin;  and,  by  a  policy  the  most  insidious,  she  endea 
vours,  of  course  from  motives  of  the  purest  philan 
thropy,  to  excite  the  slaves  to  insurrection  and 
murder!  Such  was  her  policy  during  the  revolu 
tion, — such  was  her  policy  in  the  late  war — such  is 
her  policy  now. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


English  Slave  Trade— Extent— Cruelty— Mo 
tives  of  Abolition — Violation  of  the  Law  Mo- 
lishing  the  Trade. 

OF  the  various  nations  who  have  stained  their 
escutcheon  with  the  blood  of  Africa,  who  have  torn 
her  children  from  their  homes,  and  sold  them  into 
slavery — England  is  the  most  profoundly  guilty. 
"The  truth  is,"  said  Mr.  Pitt,  in  the  English  par 
liament,  "  there  is  no  nation  in  Europe  which  has 
plunged  so  deeply  into  this  guilt  as  Britain.  We 
stopped  the  natural  progress  of  civilization  in  Africa. 
We  cut  her  off  from  the  opportunity  of  improve 
ment.  We  kept  her  down  in  a  state  of  darkness, 
bondage,  ignorance,  and  bloodshed.  We  have  there 
subverted  the  whole  order  of  nature;  we  have  ag 
gravated  every  national  barbarity,  and  furnished  to 
every  man  motives  for  committing,  under  the  name 
of  trade,  acts  of  perpetual  hostility  and  perfidy 
against  his  neighbour.  Thus  has  the  perversion  of 
British  commerce  carried  misery  instead  of  happi 
ness  to  one  whole  quarter  of  the  globe."  The  hu 
miliating  confession  was  true.  In  the  extent  and 
atrocity  of  her  human  traffic,  England  had  no  rival. 

England  may  be  considered  as  having  been  the 
slave  merchant  of  the  world.  She  engrossed  two- 
thirds  of  the  trade.  She  trafficked  in  flesh  and  blood 
with  every  country,  and  became  the  unfeeling  factor 
of  the  slave  dealers  in  all  sections  of  the  world. 
England  furnished  the  French  colonies  with  ne- 


,58 

groes,  and  stocked  the  Spanish  dominions  by  con 
tract.  It  is  stated  on  good  authority,  that  England 
conveyed  from  Africa  to  America  annually,  more 
than  one  hundred  thousand  slaves.  Anderson's 
History  of  Trade  and  Commerce,  says,  "  England 
supplies  her  American  colonies  with  negro  slaves, 
amounting  in  number  to  above  one  hundred  thou 
sand  every  year."  Wilberforce,  in  parliament,  re 
minded  his  countrymen,  that  they  enjoyed  the  largest 
share  of  the  guilty  profits  of  the  slave  trade.  Mr. 
Walsh  thus  sums  up  the  extent  and  consequences  of 
the  English  commerce  in  slaves.  "  If  we  state  it  (the 
annual  import  of  slaves)  in  round  numbers,  at  thirty 
thousand,  we  shall  have,  for  the  one  hundred  and  six 
years,  three  millions  one  hundred  and  eighteen  thou 
sand  negroes,  imported  into  the  British  possessions 
alone.  But  to  have  the  whole  number  which  Great 
Britain  obtained  from  Africa,  we  must  bring  into 
the  account  those  whom  she  procured  antecedent  to 
the  year  1680,  and  after  the  year  1786,  those  whom 
she  imported  directly  into  the  foreign  possessions 
under  her  contracts,  and  otherwise;  and  also  those 
who  perished  on  her  hands  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
and  in  the  transportation.  The  aggregate  of  her 
immediate  prey  must  have  exceeded  six  millions; 
and  we  may  rate  the  direct  mortality,  for  which  she 
is  answerable,  at  two  millions,  for  the  century  of 
the  trade,  preceding  the  abolition."  Such  is  the 
extent  of  the  slave  trade  as  prosecuted  by  England, — 
that  England  which  reviles  America,  because  two 
millions  of  slaves  thus  entailed  upon  her,  live  in 
comfort  and  content  within  her  borders. 

The  cruelties  perpetrated  in  such  a  traffic  may  be 
easier  conceived  than  painted.  But  it  may  be  re 
marked,  that  England  was,  in  this  also,  equally  pre 
eminent.  It  was  England  that  fomented  the  wars 
among  the  native  tribes  to  procure  slaves.  It  was 
England  that  numbered,  among  her  chief  exports  to 


59 

Africa,  spirits,  rum,  and  brandy,  guns,  cutlasses,  and 
ammunition.  It  was  England  that  carried  on  the 
heartless  commerce,  with  such  merciless  disregard  of 
human  life,  that  "  sometimes  a  third  or  more  pe 
rished  on  the  passage." 

The  parliamentary  report  of  1789,  on  the  slave 
trade,  states,  that  of  the  slaves  introduced  into  Ja 
maica,  from  1655  to  1787,  thirty-one  thousand  one 
hundred  and  eighty-one  died  in  the  harbour  from 
the  noxious  quality  of  the  drugs  employed  in 
making  them  up  for  sale. 

A  work  on  English  commerce,  entitled  "  Liver 
pool  Memorandum,"  states,  "that  it  may  be  pre 
sumed,  that  at  a  moderate  computation  of  slaves, 
who  are  purchased  by  our  African  merchants  in  a 
year,  near  thirty  thousand  die  upon  the  voyage  and 
in  the  seasoning." 

Mr.  Wiiberforce  denounced  the  English  slave- 
trade  as  "  a  scene  of  uniform,  unadulterated,  unso 
phisticated  wickedness."  Mr.  Beaufoy,  in  the  same 
debate  said,  "  superstition  herself  is  less  obdurate, 
less  persevering,  less  steadfast  in  her  cruelty  than 
this  cool,  reflecting,  deliberate,  remorseless  com 
merce."  Mr.  Pitt  said,  he  had  no  doubt  that  Bri 
tish  arms  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Africans 
to  promote  universal  war  and  desolation.  Mr.  Fox 
observed,  that  "  the  acts  of  barbarity  proved  upon 
the  slave  captains  in  the  course  of  the  voyages,  were 
so  extraordinary,  that  they  had  been  attributed  to 
insanity."  One  case  was  narrated  in  which  the  cap 
tain  of  a  British  ship,  in  1781,  threw  into  the  sea 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two  slaves  alive,  in  order 
to  defraud  the  underwriters.  Another  case  was 
mentioned  by  Wiiberforce,  in  which  six  English 
vessels  anchored  off  an  African  town — agreed  to  fire 
on  the  town,  to  force  the  inhabitants  to  sell  their 
slaves  at  a  lower  price.  The  cruelties  of  the  pas- 


60 

sage  appear  to  have  combined  the  greatest  amount 
of  horrors.  Mr.  Walsh,  in  referring  to  the  mortality 
induced  by  this  and  other  causes,  says,  "  it  may  be 
asserted  with  confidence,  that  the  British  trade 
caused  immediately,  during  the  two  centuries  of  its 
legal  prosecution,  the  destruction  of  more  negroes 
than  have  existed,  altogether,  in  North  America 
since  the  first  settlement!"* 

As  the  awful  atrocities  committed  by  England  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  slave  trade  are  not,  and  cannot 
be  denied  nor  palliated,  the  merit  of  its  abolition  is 
dwelt  on  with  great  triumph,  as  sufficient  to  efface  the 
remembrance  of  all  her  former  offences.  It  may  be 
doubted,  whether  a  nation  is  entitled  to  any  peculiar 
credit  or  commendation  for  abstaining,  after  unin 
terrupted  centuries  of  crime,  from  acts  of  open 
rapine.  Still  less  is  praise  merited,  if  the  reform 
tardily  follows  twenty  years  after  a  full  conviction 
arid  appreciation  of  the  guilt  of  the  course  pursued. 
But  every  lingering  claim  on  our  gratitude  and  re 
spect  is  effaced,  if  it  be  discovered,  that  the  act  of 
justice  was  induced,  not  even  by  a  cold  and  reluctant 
sense  of  duty,  but  by  motives  wholly  sordid  and 
interested. 

In  the  year  1787,  a  few  individuals,  whose  hu 
manity  has  rendered  their  names  illustrious,  brought 
the  subject  of  the  slave  trade  before  the  English 
parliament.  The  facts  in  relation  to  the  traffic  were 
collected  with  incredible  labour,  and  placed,  in  the 
strongest  light,  before  the  house.  The  cause  was  for 
tunate  in  obtaining  the  advocacy  of  several  of  the 
noblest  spirits  of  the  times;  and  was  urged  with  all 
the  force  of  reason  and  eloquence.  Session  after 
session  the  contest  was  renewed;  but  years  came 
and  passed,  and  the  trade  not  only  continued  but 

*  It  is  estimated  that  more  than  twenty  millions  of  Afri 
cans  have  been  transported  to  America. 


61 

increased.  At  length,  in  1807,  after  a  twenty-years' 
war,  a  bill  was  passed  providing  for  the  abolition  of 
the  slave  trade. 

This  result  was  obtained  by  the  success  of  the 
abolitionists  in  convincing  the  people  and  parliament 
of  the  inexpediency  of  the  commerce.  A  very  ex 
tensive  edition  of  Clarkson's  Essay  on  the  Impolicy 
of  the  Trade  was  published.  In  the  debate,  the 
advocates  of  abolition  argued,  that  the  trade  was  a 
disadvantage  to  England.  They  alleged,  that  it  in 
jured  her  commerce,  restricted  her  manufactures, 
and  ruined  her  seamen.  They  alleged  also,  that  the 
islands  were  then  well  stocked  with  labourers;  that 
additional  importation  would  lessen  the  value  of  the 
slaves  already  obtained,  and  crowd  the  population 
of  the  island  without  benefit  to  the  planter.  They 
also  urged,  that  the  natural  increase  would  now  be 
adequate  to  support  the  number  of  the  labouring 
population;  and  represented  that  a  much  more  lu 
crative  commerce  with  Africa  might  be  substituted 
for  the  slave  trade.  These  arguments  prevailed,  and 
the  commerce  was  abolished. 

Mr.  Whitbread,  in  the  final  debate  on  the  subject, 
complained  that  it  was  almost  entirely  a  cold  cal 
culation  of  profit  and  loss.  In  the  General  Con 
ference,  held  at  Vienna,  on  the  subject  of  the  aboli 
tion  of  the  slave  trade.  Lord  Castlereagh  communi 
cated  authentic  documents,  to  prove  that  "  abolition 
was  particularly  for  the  real  advantage,  and  even 
indispensable  for  the  security  of  the  colonial  coun 
tries."  In  1807,  Lord  Lauderdale,  when  urging 
abolition  upon  the  French  government,  was  told, 
"that  England,  with  her  colonies  well  stocked  with 
negroes,  and  affording  a  larger  produce,  might  abo 
lish  the  trade  without  inconvenience;  but  that  France, 
with  colonies  ill-stocked,  and  deficient  in  produce, 
could  not  abolish  it  without  conceding  to  England 
6 


62 

the  greatest  advantages,  and  sustaining  a  proportion 
ate  loss."  The  Spanish  minister,  in  answer  to  the 
same  application,  said  to  Lord  Castlereagh:  "If  the 
Spanish  colonies  of  America  were,  as  to  the  supply 
of  negroes,  in  the  same  state  as  the  English  colonies, 
his  Catholic  majesty  would  not  hesitate  a  moment  in 
decreeing  immediate  abolition;  but  the  question 
having  been  before  the  British  parliament  from  1788 
to  1807,  the  English  traders  and  planters  had  full 
time  to  make  extraordinary  purchases  of  slaves; 
and,  in  fact,  they  did  so.  This  was  proved  by  the 
case  of  Jamaica,  which  in  1787  had  only  250,000; 
whereas,  at  the  period  of  the  abolition,  in  1807,  she 
possessed  400,000."  Mr.  Wilberforce,  as  late  as 
1818,  in  urging  a  grant  to  Spain,  in  consideration  of 
abolishing  the  trade,  did  it  on  the  ground  of  the 
commercial  advantages  accruing  to  great  Britain,  by 
opening  the  continent  of  Africa  to  British  industry. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  multiply  proofs,  that  the  English 
government,  as  it  was  induced  by  avarice  to  sanction 
the  trade  for  centuries,  was  at  length  induced  by 
the  same  motive,  under  a  change  of  circumstances, 
to  abolish  it. 

The  reader  has  no  doubt  seen,  in  his  time,  men 
who  have  devoted  the  greenness  and  worth  of  their 
lives  to  profligacy;  who  have  laughed  at  every  re 
straint,  overthrown  and  trampled  upon  every  bar 
rier  which  separated  them  from  lawless  enjoyment, 
and,  in  the  pursuit  of  pleasure,  or  fortune,  or  both, 
have  rushed  madly  into  the  most  guilty  and  sordid 
excesses.  He  has  perhaps  seen  these  same  men,  when 
the  chill  of  age  came  upon  them — when  their  ears 
could  no  longer  catch  the  tones  of  the  syren  voice, 
nor  their  benumbed  flesh  thrill  to  the  touch  of  plea 
sure — when  sin  was  stripped  of  its  attraction,  and 
the  sinners  incapable  of  gratification — smooth  their 
faces  into  the  demureness  of  sanctity,  expend  their 
ill-gotten  gains  in  the  erection  of  churches,  and 


63 

essay  to  compensate,  by  the  zeal  of  their  piety,  for  its 
insincerity  and  selfishness.  Such  men  are  seen  daily; 
but,  though  as  remarkable  for  their  intolerance  as 
their  zeal — though  bitter  in  their  denunciation  of 
those  vices  which  they  cherished  while  they  could, 
and  those  pleasures  which  they  followed  until  they 
ceased  to  please — yet  we  have  never  found  one  so 
fortunate  as  to  persuade  the  public  to  admire  or  re 
spect  that  sanctity — 

"Which  doth  but  skin  and  film  the  ulcerous  part, 
Whiles  rank  corruption,  mining  all  within, 
Infects  unseen." 

It  remains  to  be  seen,  how  far  the  world  will  re 
spect  the  sincerity  of  a  nation  that  surpassed  all 
others  in  the  slave  traffic,  until  that  traffic  ceased  to 
be  profitable  to  her;  and  then,  when  constrained  to 
reform,  becomes  outrageous  in  her  sanctity,  and 
abusive  in  her  censures  of  others,  even  when  the 
offences  which  she  denounces,  were,  in  fact,  perpe 
trated,  not  by  those  whom  she  presumes  to  rebuke, 
but  by  herself  alone. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  because  the  government 
of  Great  Britain  found  it  expedient  to  abolish  the 
slave  trade,  that  the  English  people  abandoned  it. 
On  the  contrary,  the  English  themselves  have  af 
forded  us  ample  proofs  of  the  extent  of  their  illicit 
commerce  in  slaves  since  the  passage  of  the  act  of 
abolition. 

The  Report  of  the  London  African  Institution,  of 
1809,  states,  that  the  slave  merchants  had  succeeded 
in  eluding  the  provisions  of  the  act.  The  report  of 
1810  says: — "It  has  been  discovered  that,  in  defi 
ance  of  all  the  penalties  imposed  by  the  act  of  Par 
liament,  vessels  under  foreign  flags  have  been  fitted 
out  in  the  ports  of  Liverpool  and  London,  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  slaves  from  Africa  to  the  Spanish 


64 

and  Portuguese  settlements  in  America."  The  re 
port  proceeds  to  state,  that  persons  of  high  consider 
ation  were  implicated  in  this  illicit  traffic.  The  re 
port  of  1810  states,  that  "  accounts  from  various 
quarters  concur  with  certain  judicial  proceedings 
which  have  taken  place  in  this  country,  to  prove 
that  a  very  considerable  trade  in  slaves  has  been 
carried  on  of  late,  and  a  large  portion  of  it  by  means 
of  the  capital  and  credit  of  British  subjects." 
"  There  is  a  large  class  of  contraband  slave  ships 
fitted  out,  chiefly  in  London  or  Liverpool,  destined 
to  the  coast  of  Africa."  The  report  of  1812  esti 
mates  the  amount  of  this  illicit  commerce  at  from 
70,000  to  80,000  slaves  during  the  year  1810.  The 
reports  of  1813-14  reaffirm  the  same  facts,  and 
in  addition,  complain  of  a  new  branch  of  trade 
opened  by  the  British  between  Egypt  and  Malta. 
It  also  describes  the  condition  of  the  slaves  in  seve 
ral  of  the  new  British  conquests  as  wretched  in  the 
extreme;  and  while  it  denounces  the  slave  trade 
on  the  north  coast  of  Africa,  complains  of  the  ex 
portation  of  British  arms  and  gunpowder  to  that 
continent.  In  1815,  Mr.  Barham  stated  in  Parlia 
ment,  that  "  it  was  a  well  known  fact,  that  a  large 
British  capital  was  employed  in  British  ships,  in  the 
slave  trade."  In  1818,  Lord  Castlereagh  said,  that 
"in  numberless  instances,  he  was  sorry  to  say,  it 
had  come  to  his  knowledge,  that  British  subjects 
were  indirectly  and  largely  engaged  in  the  slave 
trade."  The  report  of  the  African  Institution  for 
1815,  affirmed  that  20,000  negroes  had  been  yearly 
smuggled  into  the  English  colonies.  The  com 
merce  thus  extensively  but  illicitly  carried  on, 
though  checked  by  the  recent  act  of  abolition,  is  no 
doubt  still  prosecuted  with  the  colonies  of  other 
European  nations,  and  will  probably  be  continued 
so  long  as  it  proves  profitable.  England,  at  least, 
will  never  be  entitled  to  praise  for  its  termination. 


65 

In  the  act  referred  to,  by  which  slavery  was  abolish 
ed  in  the  English  colonies,  we  can  see  nothing  in 
consistent  with  the  spirit  always  exhibited  by  the 
British  government.  Wholly  unmindful,  not  only  of 
the  interests,  but  of  the  rights  of  her  colonies,  she  has 
robbed  them  of  a  property,  the  legitimacy  of  which 
she  recognised  for  centuries.  She  thrust — -forced  a 
slave  population  upon  them,  notwithstanding  their 
remonstrances,  and  did  so,  not  because  she  conceived 
such  a  population  valuable  to  the  colonies,  but  be 
cause  the  traffic  was  "beneficic.l  to  the  mother  coun 
try."  Having  exhausted  this  source  of  gain,  and 
persuaded  herself  that  her  colonies  would,  if  slavery 
were  abolished,  afford  an  outlet  for  her  surplus  popu 
lation,  she  does  not  scruple  to  rifle  her  own  subjects, 
throw  the  colonies  into  confusion,  and  endanger  the 
lives,  as  she  has  violated  the  rights,  of  the  planters 
of  the  West  Indies.  That  this  policy  has  been 
adopted  under  the  momentary  sway  of  ignorant 
fanaticism  may  be  conceded;  but  fanaticism  would 
never  have  controlled  the  policy  of  Britain,  had  it 
not  appealed  to  her  avarice,  and,  by  captivating  but 
hollow  representations  of  the  superiority  of  free 
labour,  persuaded  her  that  the  measure  would  render 
the  colonies  more  valuable  to  the  mistress  country. 
The  profits  realized  by  Great  Britain  in  the  slave 
trade  may  well  enable  her  to  afford  a  few  millions 
of  compensation  to  the  plundered  planters,  and  the 
increased  revenue  expected  from  the  colonies  will, 
it  is  expected,  amply  justify  this  investment.  Great 
Britain  has  not,  however,  upon  all  occasions,  found 
her  system  of  colonial  wrong  and  exaction  to  answer 
her  expectations.  The  time  has  not  yet  arrived  to 
write  the  history  of  West  India  abolition,  but  the 
system  has  sufficiently  developed  itself  to  enable  us 
to  predict,  with  confidence,  loss  to  the  mother  coun 
try — ruin  to  the  colonies. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Condition  of  Slaves  in  the  United  States. 

THE  extent  of  slavery  in  the  different  slave-hold 
ing  states  of  this  union,  may  be  seen  by  the  follow 
ing  table,  digested  from  the  census  of  1830. 


Whites. 

Free 
col'd. 

Slaves. 

Total 
col'd. 

Total. 

Maryland, 

291,093 

52,912 

102,873 

155,820 

446,913 

Virginia, 

694,270 

47,348 

469,757 

517,105 

1,211,375 

North  Carolina, 

472,843 

19,543 

245,601 

265,444 

737,987 

South  Carolina, 

257,863 

7,921 

315,401 

323,322 

518,185 

Georgia, 

296,806 

2,486 

217,531 

220,017 

516,823 

Al  v  mn             J  North, 

81,173 

422 

44,130 

44,552 

125,725 

Aiaoama,            >  S  i  th 

109,233 

1,150 

73,419 

74,569 

183,802 

Mississippi, 

114,795 

569 

25,091 

25,660 

140,455 

Kentucky, 

517,787 

4,917 

165,213 

170,130 

687,917 

Louisiana, 

89,291 

16,710 

109,588 

126,298 

215,589 

Tennessee, 

535,748 

4,555 

141,603 

146,158 

681,906 

Missouri, 

114,795 

569 

25,091 

25,660 

140,455 

District  of  Columbia, 

27,647 

6,093 

6,058 

12,151 

39,868 

Arkansaw, 

25,671 

141 

4,576 

4,717 

30,388 

Florida, 

18,375 

844 

15,501 

16,345 

34,720 

The  states  in  which  slavery  prevails,  have  been 
distinguished  for  their  affluence.  Notwithstanding 
the  policy  of  the  national  government  has  borne 
heavily  upon  the  South,  notwithstanding  the  occa 
sional  depression  of  her  staples,  and  the  proverbially 
unfortunate  pecuniary  habits  of  her  citizens,  that 
portion  of  the  union  may  still  be  regarded  as  pecu- 


67 

liarly  favoured.  The  slave-labour  of  the  South  has 
thus  far  practically  disproved  the  theories  of  the 
North;  and  demonstrated  that  the  institution  of  slave 
ry,  whatever  objections  may  be  alleged  against  it,  is 
not  calculated  to  diminish  the  national  wealth,  or  re 
tard  the  national  prosperity.  It  will  be  seen  hereafter, 
that  the  South  pays  nearly  one-third  of  the  revenue 
of  the  government;  and  of  the  one  hundred  millions 
of  dollars  annual  exports  sent  from  the  country, 
nine-tenths  are  raised  by  the  South.  Of  the  pro 
ductiveness  of  slave-labour,  who  can,  after  a  know 
ledge  of  these  facts,  affect  a  doubt?  The  North,  as 
well  as  the  South,  is  enriched  by  that  labour;  and 
should  any  disastrous  occurrences  disturb  the  insti 
tutions  of  the  South,  not  only  the  whites  and  negroes 
of  the  slave-holding  states  would  sink  into  poverty 
and  suffering,but  the  decayed  manufactures,  shrunken 
commerce,  and  ruined  prosperity  of  the  North,  would 
show  how  near  and  vital  is  the  connexion  of  the  dif 
ferent  sections  of  our  common  country. 

Every  country  must  have  its  labourers,  men  who 
are  willing  to  be  directed  by  the  mind  and  capital 
of  others,  and  to  undergo,  in  consideration  of  sup 
port,  the  physical  toil  requisite  for  the  attainment 
of  the  goods  of  life.  In  the  North,  this  labour  is 
done  by  the  poor;  in  the  South,  by  the  negro.  In 
both,  the  labourer  is  forced  to  endure  the  privations 
of  his  condition  in  life.  In  the  North,  not  only  is 
his  toil  severe,  but  poverty  and  anxiety  attend  him 
in  his  humble  path  in  life.  His  family  must  be 
sustained;  his  wife  attended  in  sickness;  his  chil 
dren  supported  in  youth.  His  means  are  often  ina 
dequate  to  his  wants.  He  is  bowed  down  by  the 
consciousness  of  inequality,  and  haunted  by  the  fear 
of  the  prison.  Incertitude  and  anxiety  are  with  him 
each  hour  of  his  life;  and  when  sickness  or  age  steals 
upon  him,  it  often  finds  him  without  resources  or 
hope.  Thus  is  he  dogged  through  life  by  poverty, 


68 

fear,  humiliation  and  oppression  (for  the  title  of 
freeman  does  not  protect  the  poor  from  oppression) 
and  dies  with  the  unhappy  consciousness  that  for 
his  children  is  reserved  the  same  lot  of  wretched 
ness.  The  labourer  of  the  South  knows  none  of 
these  evils.  He  is  scarcely  acquainted  with  the 
meaning  of  the  word  care.  He  never  suffers  from 
inordinate  labour — he  never  sickens  from  unwhole 
some  food.  No  fear  of  want  disturbs  his  slumbers. 
Hunger  and  cold  are  strangers  to  him;  and  in  sick 
ness  or  age  he  knows  that  he  has  a  protector  and  a 
friend  able  and  willing  to  shield  him  from  suffering. 
His  pleasures  are  such  as  his  nature  enjoys,  and  are 
unrestricted.  He  enjoys  all  the  privileges  which  his 
simple  heart  craves,  and  which  are  wholesome  for 
him.  Thus  protected  from  all  the  other  has  to  fear, 
and  secured  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  he  desires — he 
is  as  happy  as  circumstances  can  render  him. 

We  are  aware  that  certain  pseudo  philanthropists 
affect  great  concern  for  the  benighted  state  of  the 
negro,  and  condemn  the  enactments  which,  in  some 
of  the  states,  discourage  his  education.  We  may  be 
permitted  to  remark,  that,  but  for  the  intrusive  and 
intriguing  interference  of  pragmatical  fanatics,  such 
precautionary  enactments  would  never  have  been 
necessary.  When  such  foes  are  abroad,  industrious 
in  scattering  the  seeds  of  insurrection,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  close  every  avenue  by  which  they  may 
operate  upon  the  slaves.  It  becomes  necessary  to 
check  or  turn  aside  the  stream,  which  instead  of 
flowing  healthfully  upon  the  negro,  is  polluted  and 
poisoned  by  the  abolitionists,  and  rendered  the 
source  of  discontent  and  excitement.  Education, 
thus  perverted,  would  become  equally  dangerous  to 
the  master  and  the  slave:  and  while  fanaticism  con 
tinue,  its  war  upon  the  South,  the  measures  of  ne 
cessary  precaution  and  defence  must  be  continued. 

The  situation  of  the  slave  is,  in  every  particular, 


69 

incompatible  with  the  cultivation  of  his  mind.  It 
would  not  only  unfit  him  for  his  station  in  life, 
and  prepare  him  for  insurrection,  but  would  be 
found  wholly  impracticable  in  the  performance  of 
the  duties  of  a  labourer.  However,  those  who  re 
gard  the  absence  of  education  in*the  negro  with 
such  peculiar  compassion,  would  do  well  to  assure 
themselves  that  the  free  blacks  of  the  North,  and 
even  a  large  class  of  the  white  labourers,  are,  in  this 
particular,  superior  to  him.  The  charity  of  these 
fanatics  is  generally  of  so  expanded  and  ambitious  a 
character,  that  it  overlooks  worthy  objects  of  bene 
volence  at  their  feet,  to  light  upon  some  scheme  of 
thwart  and  ill-omened  philanthropy  abroad. 

The  absence  of  science  is  no  misfortune  to  the 
slave.  He  is  averse  to  study;  and,  with  every  ad 
vantage,  seldom  makes  sufficient  progress  to  render 
education  a  source  of  pleasure  or  profit  to  him. 
Inert  and  unintellectual,  he  exhibits  no  craving  for 
knowledge;  and  prefers,  in  his  hours  of  recreation, 
indulgence  in  his  rustic  pleasures  to  the  pursuit  of 
intellectual  improvement.  It  has  been  a  question, 
whether  the  pains  or  enjoyments  of  a  cultivated 
mind  preponderate.  The  extended  expanse  of  the 
mind,  if  it  is  opened  to  more  of  the  sunshine  of 
heaven,  is  exposed  also  to  more  of  its  gloom;  and 
as,  in  this  life,  our  sky  is  more  frequently  clouded 
than  clear,  the  prerogative,  however  ennobling,  is 
perhaps  a  source  of  more  anxiety  than  enjoyment. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  the  negro  never  suffers  from  the 
thirst  for  knowledge.  Voluptuous  and  indolent,  he 
knows  few  but  animal  pleasures;  is  incapable  of 
appreciating  the  pride  and  pleasure  of  conscious  in 
tellectual  refinement;  and  passes  through  existence, 
perhaps  with  few  of  the  white  man's  mental  enjoy 
ments,  but  certainly  with  still  fewer  of  his  harass 
ing  cares  and  anxieties.  The  dance  beneath  the 


70 

shade  surpasses,  for  him,  the  groves  of  the  academy ; 
and  the  simple  tones  of  the  banjo  have  charms  which 
even  the  lyre  of  Phoebus  could  not  rival. 

Misguided  or  malevolent  writers  have  endea 
voured  to  produce  an  impression  in  the  North  that 
the  slaves  of  the*  South  are  debarred  the  privilege  of 
public  worship.  So  far  is  this  statement  from  being 
based  on  truth,  that  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the 
free  blacks  in  the  North,  under  the  immediate  wing 
of  the  abolitionists,  enjoy  the  same  religious  advan 
tages,  or  profit  by  them  to  the  same  extent.  Clergy 
men  are  encouraged  by  the  citizens  of  the  Southern 
states  to  visit  and  preach  to  their  slaves;  and  the 
cause  of  religion  was,  and  unless  the  mad  course  of 
the  abolitionists  has  checked  it,  still  is,  rapidly  ad 
vancing  in  the  South.  The  clergy  of  the  South  are 
equally  distinguished  for  their  zeal  and  ability;  and 
labour,  with  commendable  activity,  in  the  vineyard 
thus  opened  to  them.  The  absence  of  all  temporal 
cares  in  the  mind  of  the  slave,  fits  him  to  receive 
religious  impressions;  and  may,  perhaps,  account 
for  the  success  of  the  ministry  in  their  efforts  among 
that  portion  of  our  population.  Of  the  numerous 
and  exemplary  clergy  of  the  South,  not  a  man  can 
be  found  willing  to  sanction  the  course  of  the  North 
ern  fanatics,  to  represent  the  condition  of  the  slaves 
in  an  unfavourable  light,  or  to  breathe  a  word  to 
countenance  the  calumnies  of  the  abolitionists.  They 
imitate  the  example  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  who, 
instead  of  preaching  abolition  to  the  slaves,  went 
among  them  breathing  the  spirit  of  humility  and 
peace,  and  directing  them  to  "  render  unto  Ca3sar 
the  things  that  are  Caesar's."  When  the  soi  disant 
philanthropists  do  likewise,  they  will  cease  to  be 
objects  of  alarm  and  abhorrence  to  the  people  whose 
tranquillity  they  have  so  recklessly  endangered. 

Since  the  recent  manifestations  of  a  determination 


71 

on  the  part  of  the  abolitionists  to  break  up  the  foun 
tains  of  the  great  deep  of  public  order — to  throw 
the  whole  organization  of  southern  society  into 
chaos — light  the  torch  of  rapine  and  whet  the  knife 
of  murder — it  has  become  necessary  for  the  South 
to  guard,  with  sleepless  vigilance,  every  channel 
through  which  their  poison  might  be  disseminated. 
Some  of  the  fanatics,  more  mutinous  than  their  bre 
thren,  have  visited  the  South,  in  the  abused  charac 
ter  of  clergymen,  and  brought  reproach  upon  the 
holy  office,  by  using  it  for  the  worst  purposes. 
These  reverend  preachers  of  insurrection  and  mur 
der  have  excited  some  distrust  at  the  South;  and  the 
planters  are  wisely  determined  to  be  more  careful 
hereafter.  Wandering  vagabonds  will  therefore  find 
it  difficult  to  approach  and  poison  the  minds  of  the 
slaves  in  clerical  costume;  or,  should  they  succeed, 
will  probably  discover,  to  their  surprise,  that  the 
crime  of  inciting  the  ignorant  negro  to  murder,  is 
punished  at  the  South  quite  as  summarily  and  se 
verely,  when  committed  in  a  black  coat,  as  in  one 
of  a  less  reverend  and  awe-exciting  hue.  But  how 
ever  watchful  necessity  may  render  the  Southron, 
the  respectable  and  pure-hearted  clergyman  will 
always  receive  from  him,  in  the  performance  of  his 
holy  duties  among  the  slave  population,  protection, 
encouragement  and  support.  Christianity  truly 
taught  and  sincerely  cherished,  cannot  fail  to  render 
the  slave  population  more  tranquil  and  happy  in 
themselves,  and  more  valuable  to  their  masters.  Had 
the  planter,  therefore,  no  higher  motive,  his  own 
obvious  interests  would  constrain  him  to  encourage 
and  aid  the  means  by  which  his  slaves  are  rendered 
quiet,  moral,  and  industrious. 

The  slaves  of  the  South  are  protected  from  abuse 
or  wrong  by  liberal  laws,  justly  administered.  Im 
proper  punishment,  under-feeding  or  over-working, 


72 

are  prevented  by  enactments,  which,  should  any 
master  incur  their  penalties,  effectually  vindicate  the 
cause  of  justice.  The  laws  protect  the  slave  as  fully 
as  the  white  man:  they  go  further,  and,  as  the  slave 
is  supposed  to  be  completely  dependent  upon  his 
master,  they  require  that  he  should  be  supplied  with 
the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  his  station,  and 
treated  with  unvarying  kindness.  In  some  of  the 
states  it  has,  indeed,  been  necessary  to  pass  rigid 
police  laws  to  protect  the  country  from  insurrections; 
but  these  laws  remain  a  dead  letter,  until  the  inter 
ference  of  insidious  and  evil  men  excites  and  stirs  up 
the  slaves,  and  renders  caution  and  severity  indispen 
sable  for  the  safety  of  the  master.  When  abolition 
ists  make  the  application  of  these  laws  necessary,  it 
is  they,  and  they  alone,  who  are  the  authors  of  the 
restraint  placed  upon  the  slaves. 

The  slave-holders  of  this  country  have  always 
been  celebrated  for  their  kindness  to  their  depend 
ants.  The  following  passages  in  Beverley's  History 
of  Virginia,  dated  1720,  shows  the  manner  in  which, 
even  at  that  early  period,  the  slaves  were  treated. 
"  It  hath  been  so  represented  to  the  common  people 
of  England,  as  to  make  them  believe  that  the  ser 
vants  in  Virginia  are  made  to  draw  in  carts,  and 
plough  as  the  oxen  do  in  England,  and  that  the  coun 
try  turns  all  people  black  who  go  to  live  there;  with 
other  such  prodigious  phantasms."  "I  can  assure, 
with  great  truth,  that,  generally,  the  slaves  in  Vir 
ginia  are  not  worked  near  so  hard,  nor  so  many 
hours  in  a  day  as  the  husbandmen  and  day-labour 
ers  in  England;  and  that  no  people  more  abhor  the 
thoughts  of  cruel  usage  to  servants  than  do  Virgi 
nians."  The  treatment  of  slaves  in  this  country, 
always  lenient,  has  improved  since  the  revolution. 
The  apprehensions  which  existed  while  the  slave 
trade  poured  its  thousands  upon  our  shores,  have 


73 

been  removed  by  its  abolition;  the  whites  also  have 
become  more  numerous,  and  bear  a  much  larger  pro 
portion  to  the  slaves;  and  a  sense  of  security  is  the 
consequence,  which  has  operated  greatly  to  soften 
the  system  of  the  master,  and  ameliorate  the  condi 
tion  of  the  slave.  The  division  of  the  negro  popu 
lation  into  smaller  masses,  has,  by  bringing  them 
nearer  to  the  master,  connected  them  with  his  family 
associations  and  feelings;  while  the  advance  of  libe 
ral  and  humane  feelings  has  given  to  the  relation  of 
master  and  slave  often  the  most  affectionate  charac 
ter.  The  editor  of  the  Encyclopedia  Americana, 
remarks,  "We  believe  it  is  generally  admitted  that 
the  slave  is  nowhere  better  treated  than  in  the  slave- 
holding  states  of  this  union."  Mr.  Walsh,  in  his 
Appeal,  gives  the  following  description  of  the  treat 
ment  of  slaves  in  the  South.  "  The  master  who 
would  deprive  his  negro  of  his  peculium — the  pro 
duce  of  his  poultry -house,  or  his  little  garden;  who 
should  force  him  to  work  on  holidays  or  at  night; 
who  should  deny  him  the  common  recreations,  or 
leave  him  without  shelter  or  provision  in  his  old 
age,  would  incur  the  aversion  of  the  community, 
and  raise  obstacles  to  the  advancement  of  his  own 
interest  and  external  aims." 

The  same  author  says,  "  American  negro-slavery 
is  almost  wholly  free  from  two  of  the  grievances 
which  characterize  that  of  the  WTest  Indies — under 
feeding  and  over  working.  With  regard  to  the 
great  article  of  food,  the  American  negroes  are, 
assuredly,  better  supplied  than  the  free  labourers  of 
most  parts  of  Europe.  Flesh  meat  is  not  attainable 
for  the  latter  in  the  same  quantity  which  is  com 
monly  given  to  the  first;  it  would  seem  not  to  be 
attainable  at  all  for  the  poorer  classes  of  Great  Bri 
tain  and  Ireland.  In  respect  to  clothing  and  lodging, 
the  comparison  would  give  nearly  the  same  result 
7 


74 

On  the  score  of  fuel,  the  want  of  which  occasions  so 
much  suffering  in  particular  counties  of  Great  Bri 
tain,  and,  as  to  the  point  of  labour,  also,  the  advan 
tage  is  greatly  on  the  side  of  the  American  negro. 
I  cannot  here  enter  into  the  details  of  the  system, 
upon  which  they  are  worked  on  the  Southern  plan 
tations;  but  I  can  say  of  it,  that  it  involves  nothing 
like  the  same  intensity,  duration,  or  continuity  of 
exertion,  which  would  appear  to  be  indispensable  in 
Great  Britain,  in  almost  all  the  lower  walks  of  me 
chanical  industry,  for  the  mere  support  of  animal 
life." 

Professor  Dew,  from  whose  invaluable  work  on 
this  subject  we  have  already  quoted,  speaks  as  fol 
lows  of  the  usage  of  the  slaves: — "  In  the  debate  in 
the  Virginia  legislature,  no  speaker  insinuated  even, 
we  believe,  that  the  slaves  in  Virginia  were  not 
treated  kindly;  and  all,  too,  agreed  that  they  were 
most  abundantly  fed;  and  we  have  no  doubt  but  that 
they  form  the  happiest  portion  of  our  society.  A 
merrier  being  does  not  exist  on  the  face  of  the  globe, 
than  the  negro  slave  of  the  United  States.  Even 
Captain  Hall  himself,  with  his  '  thick  crust  of  pre 
judice/  is  obliged  to  allow  that  they  are  happy  and 
contented,  and  the  master  much  less  cruel  than  is 
generally  imagined." 

Mr.  Dew  remarks  that  we  are  all  too  prone  to  make 
seethe  standard  by  which  we  measure  the  condition 
of  the  slaves;  and  adds,  with  equal  justice  and  elo 
quence: — "  We  might  rather  die  than  be  the  ob 
scure  slave  that  waits  at  our  back — our  education 
and  our  habits  generate  an  ambition  that  makes  us 
aspire  at  something  loftier — and  disposes  us  to  look 
upon  the  slave  as  unsusceptible  of  happiness  in  his 
humble  sphere,  when  he  may  indeed  be  much  hap 
pier  than  we  are,  and  have  his  ambition  too;  but  his 
ambition  is  to  excel  all  his  other  slaves  in  the  per- 


75 

formance  of  his  servile  duties — to  please  and  gratify 
his  master — and  to  command  the  praise  of  all  who 
witness  his  exertions.  Let  the  wily  philanthropist 
but  come  and  whisper  into  the  ear  of  such  a  slave 
that  his  situation  is  degrading  and  his  lot  a  misera 
ble  one — let  him  but  light  up  the  dungeon  in  which 
he  persuades  the  slave  that  he  is  caged — and  that 
moment,  like  the  serpent  that  entered  the  garden  of 
Eden,  he  destroys  his  happiness  and  his  usefulness." 

We  add  the  following  testimony  of  T.  Flint,  Esq., 
a  gifted  native  of  New  England,  and  from  education, 
habit,  and  feeling,  averse  to  the  institution  of  slavery. 
Of  the  fidelity  of  his  statements,  no  one,  we  flatter 
ourselves,  will  hazard  a  doubt.  His  opportunities 
for  acquiring,  from  personal  observation,  a  know 
ledge  of  slavery,  have  been  unlimited;  and  from  his 
established  reputation  as  a  sagacious  and  accurate 
observer,  and  a  writer  of  ability  and  character,  his 
authority  must  be  regarded  as  entitled  to  great  con 
sideration. 

"  We  can  pronounce,  from  what  we  consider  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject,  that  the  condi 
tion  of  the  slaves  here,*  the  treatment  which  they 
receive,  and  the  character  of  their  masters,  have  been 
much  misrepresented  in  the  non-slave-holding  states. 
We  pretend  to  none  but  historical  knowledge  of 
the  state  of  things  which  has  existed  here  in  past 
time.  At  present,  we  are  persuaded,  there  are  but 
few  of  those  brutal  and  cruel  masters  which  the 
greatest  portion  of  the  planters  were  formerly  sup 
posed  to  be.  The  masters  now  study  popularity 
with  their  slaves. — There  is  now  no  part  of  the 
slave-holding  country  in  the  Southwest,  where  it 
would  not  be  a  deep  stain  on  the  moral  character  to 

*  In  Louisiana,  one  of  the  most  rigid  states,  in  the  govern 
ment  of  her  slaves,  in  the  Union. 


76 

be  generally  reputed  a  cruel  master.  In  many  plan 
tations  no  punishment  is  inflicted  except  after  a  trial 
by  a  jury,  composed  of  the  fellow  servants  of  the 
party  accused.  Festival  prizes  and  rewards  are  in 
stituted,  as  stimulants  to  exertion,  and  compensa 
tions  for  superior  accomplishments  of  labour.  They 
are  generally  well  fed,  and  well  clothed,  and  that 
not  by  an  arbitrary  award,  which  might  vary  with 
the  feelings  of  the  master,  but  by  a  periodical  appor 
tionment,  like  the  distributed  rations  of  soldiers,  of 
what  has  been  experimented  to  be  sufficient  to  ren 
der  them  comfortable.  Considerable  attention  is 
paid  to  their  quarters,  and  most  of  them  comfortably 
lodged  and  housed.  Nor  are  they  destitute,  as  has 
been  supposed,  of  any  legal  protection  coming  be 
tween  them  and  the  cupidity  and  cruelty  of  their 
masters.  The  code  noir  of  Louisiana  is  a  curious 
collection  of  statutes,  drawn  partly  from  French  and 
Spanish  law  and  usage,  and  partly  from  the  customs 
of  the  islands,  and  usages  which  have  grown  out  of 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  Louisiana  while  a 
colony.  It  has  the  aspect,  it  must  be  admitted,  of 
being  formed  rather  for  the  advantage  of  the  master 
than  the  servant,  for  it  prescribes  an  unlimited  ho 
mage  and  obedience  to  the  former.  It  makes  a  mis 
demeanor  on  his  part  towards  his  master  a  very 
different  offence  from  a  wanton  abuse  of  power  to 
wards  the  servant*  But,  at  the  same  time,  it  de 
fines  crimes  that  the  master  can  commit  in  relation 
to  the  slave:  and  prescribes  the  mode  of  trial,  and 
the  kind  and  degree  of  punishment.  It  constitutes 
unnecessary  correction,  maiming,  and  murder,  pun 
ishable  offences  in  the  master.  It  is  very  minute  in 
prescribing  the  number  of  hours  which  the  master 

*  Such  a  distinction  is  prompted  by  the  dangers  arising 
from  the  peculiar  position  of  the  slave,  and  the  necessity  of 
greater  restraint  and  security. 


77 

may  lawfully  exact  to  be  employed  in  labour,  and 
the  number  of  hours  which  he  must  allow  his  slave 
for  meal-times  and  for  rest.  It  prescribes  the  time 
and  extent  of  his  holidays.  In  short,  it  settles  with 
minuteness  and  detail,  the  whole  circle  of  relations 
between  master  and  slave,  defining  and  prescribing 
what  the  former  may,  and  may  not,  exact  of  the 
latter.  Yet  after  all  these  minute  provisions,  the 
slave  finds  the  chief  alleviation  of  his  hard  condi 
tion,  and  his  best  security  against  cruel  treatment, 
and  his  most  valid  bond  for  kind  and  proper  deport 
ment  towards  him,  in  the  increasing  light,  human 
ity  and  force  of  public  opinion.  That  the  slave  is 
in  the  general  circumstances  of  his  condition,  as 
happy  as  this  relation  ivill  admit  of  his  being)  is 

AN  UNQUESTIONABLE  FACT."* 

*  It  can  scarcely  be  necessary  to  swell  the  evidences  of  a 
fact,  which  every  intelligent  and  candid  man  who  has  in 
spected  for  himself  the  domestic  relations  of  the  Southern 
planter,  will  readily  admit.  We  will,  however,  add  the  fol 
lowing.  Mr.  Noah,  of  New  York,  remarks,  in  relation  to 
the  slave  population  of  the  South:  "  We  speak  advisedly,  for 
we  have  studied  the  condition  of  the  whites  and  blacks  mi 
nutely,  and  can  freely  say,  that  we  would  infinitely  prefer  to 
be  a  black  slave  in  Carolina,  or*Virginia,  or  Cuba,  or  Barba- 
does,  to  the  emaciated  and  haggard  wretches  who  people  the 
workshops  of  Birmingham  and  Manchester,  or  the  poor, 
shiftless,  dissolute  free  negroes  who  live  in  our  Northern 
states."  The  able  editor  of  the  Courier  and  Enquirer,  thus 
describes  the  slaves  of  the  South,  before  the  "  pernicious 
labours  of  the  abolitionist  destroyed  the  confidence  of  the 
master,  and  with  it,  the  comfort  of  the  slave."  "  We  speak 
from  our  own  experience,  when  we  say,  they  were  the  gay 
est,  the  most  contented,  and  the  most  comfortable  race  of 
labouring  people  that  ever  came  under  our  observation ;  for, 
as  to  the  pictures  and  representations  which  the  abolitionists 
are  daily  putting  forth,  of  chains,  stripes,  oppression,  and 
cruelty,  we  pronounce  them  wilful  and  malicious  falsehoods, 
invented  to  impose  upon  the  world,  and  stimulate  the  slaves 
to  insurrection  and  murder." 

7* 


78 

Were  there  no  other  evidences  of  the  kindness 
with  which  the  Southern  slaves  are  treated,  and  the 
comfort  in  which  they  live,  it  would  be  sufficient  to 
direct  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  rapidity  of 
their  increase.  This,  at  least,  is  a  proof  of  the  pros 
perous  state  of  the  negro,  which  will  not  be  contest 
ed.  In  the  British  West  Indies,  the  slave  population 
has  required,  it  is  said,  renewal  every  fifteen  years: 
in  this  country,  the  natural  increase  is  nearly  equal 
to  that  of  the  whites.  In  England  and  Wales,  the 
population  has  nearly  doubled  in  the  last  hundred 
years;  one  fourth  of  that  time  is  sufficient  for  the 
duplication  of  our  Southern  negroes.  These  facts 
will  not  be  denied,  and  cannot  be  explained  away. 
They  demonstrate  that  the  condition  of  the  Ameri 
can  negro  is,  at  least,  not  one  of  physical  suffering. 

In  conclusion,  we  may  remark,  that  there  is  rea 
son  to  doubt  whether  any  country  comprises  a  la 
bouring  people  better  clothed,  fed  and  treated  than 
the  slave  population  of  the  South — a  population 
with  less  discontent  and  fewer  causes  calculated  to 
excite  it.  Their  intellectual  inferiority,  the  absence 
of  ambition  in  their  character,  their  improvidence 
and  want  of  a  master  to  direct  and  sustain  them, 
and  the  peculiar  adaptation  of  their  physical  consti 
tution  to  labour  in  a  Southern  climate,  all  combine 
to  render  their  present  the  best  possible  condition 
in  which  they  can  be  placed;  while  the  kindness 
and  attention  of  their  masters  make  that  condition 
still  more  comfortable  and  happy.  It  is  an  error  to 
suppose  that  the  blacks  do  not  regard  the  kindness 
of  their  masters  with  gratitude  and  affection.  They 
look  up  to  their  liberal  and  generous  masters,  and 
their  amiable  mistresses,  with  a  feeling  absolutely 
fond  and  filial.  They  take  pleasure  in  repaying 
their  care  with  every  service  in  their  power;  and, 
instead  of  desiring  an  opportunity  to  dissolve  the 


79 

connexion  between  them,  would,  in  many  cases,  be 
found  ready  to  die  in  defence  of  the  families  in 
which  they  are  so  kindly  protected  and  cherished. 
With  these  views  of  the  Southern  population,  how 
sinister  and  fiendlike  appears  that  intermeddling 
spirit  which  seeks  to  render  the  poor  slave  discon 
tented — to  transform  his  nature  into  that  of  a  re 
vengeful  and  sanguinary  demon,  thirsting  for  the 
blood  of  his  protectors,  anxious  to  redden  the  skies 
of  his  clime  with  the  glare  of  conflagration,  and  dye 
the  soil  he  has  so  long  and  peacefully  tilled  with  the 
hue  of  murder.  Is  it  strange  that  the  proceedings 
of  such  men  are  regarded,  by  every  reflecting  and 
benevolent  mind,  with  horror?* 

*  "  In  this  country  it  has  been  argued,"  said  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Tracy,  in  a  sermon  before  the  Vermont  Colonization  Society, 
"  that  the  world  belongs  to  all  men  equally,  and  labour  be 
longs  to  those  who  perform  it,  are  conclusions  as  inevitable, 
as  that  a  man's  right  hand  is  his  own."  And  on  these 
grounds,  a  convention  was  proposed  and  publicly  urged  in 
the  state  of  New  York,  in  the  year  1830,  which  should 
order, 

An  immediate  abolition  of  all  debts; 

An  inventory  of  all  real  and  personal  property  within  the 
state; 

A  census  of  all  the  inhabitants,  white  or  black; 

An  equal  division  of  all  the  property,  real  and  personal, 
among  such  citizens  indiscriminately,  as  have  arrived  at  the 
age  of  eighteen,  without  regard  to  colour; 

An  apportionment  of  a  full  share  to  every  citizen,  as  he 
shall  hereafter  arrive  at  the  age  of  eighteen; 

The  abolition  of  all  interest  on  money,  and  the  right  of 
making  wills. 

Do  you  say,  there  is  no  danger  that  men  will  reason  thus!  I 
answer,  men  have  thus  reasoned,  and  been  confident  in  their 
reasonings.  They  have  published  them,  with  the  intention 
of  inducing  nations  to  adopt  them.  The  party,  from  one  of 
whose  organs  the  last  extract  was  taken,  proposed  to  have 
20,000  followers  in  the  city  of  New  York  alone,  and  nomi 
nated  its  candidate  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Slavery  considered. — The  right  of  man  to  hold 
his  fellow-man  in  bondage. 

WITH  all  the  clamour  made  by  the  abolitionists, 
in  relation  to  "free  discussion/7  there  is  nothing 
which  they  so  studiously  avoid.  They  seldom,  if 
ever,  resort  to  candid  or  manly  argument.  They 
appeal  to  settled  prejudices;  and,  by  applying  ab 
stract  but  cherished  axioms,  without  reference  to 
consequences,  they  urge  a  course  which  could  never 
bear  the  test  of  cool  and  practical  examination.  It 
is  the  misfortune  of  our  country  that  we  reason  from 
abstractions.  We  establish  the  principle  that  all  men 
are  created  free  and  equal;  and  following  it  out,  with 
out  regard  to  consequences,  often  infer  that  a  com 
munity  of  goods  is  required  by  a  rigid  respect  for 
the  rights  of  man.  It  was  this  delusion,  this  prone- 
ness  to  rush  recklessly  on  in  the  course  marked  out 
by  some  dreamy  abstraction,  which  plunged  revo 
lutionary  France  into  the  reign  of  terror.  Her 
principles  were  generally  sound;  but  pushed  to 
extremes,  and  followed  without  regard  to  practical 
results,  they  led  to  consequences  at  which  the  world 
even  now  turns  pale.  It  was  the  prevalence  of  the 
spirit  alluded  to,  which  induced  the  French  policy 
towards  St.  Domingo;  and  not  only  lost  that  colony 
to  France  and  to  the  world,  but  rendered  it  a  Phle- 
gethon,  in  which  evil  spirits  held,  for  years,  their 
carnival  of  blood.  Let  our  people  profit  by  their 


81 

experience.  Let  them  rely  rather  on  common  sense, 
practically  applied,  than  on  the  misty  abstractions  of 
fanatical  enthusiasts. 

It  should  be  distinctly  understood,  that  while  the 
South  acknowledges  no  accountability  to  any  power 
under  heaven  for  her  course  or  sentiments  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  she  freely  avows  her  conviction 
of  her  right  to  hold  the  negroes  in  bondage,  and  her 
persuasion  that  the  domestic  slavery  of  that  section 
of  our  country,  is  not  a  moral  or  political  evil. 
These  sentiments  are  the  result  of  a  full  and  general 
investigation  of  the  subject:  and  were  the  people  of 
the  North  equally  well  acquainted  with  it,  they 
would  probably  subscribe  to  the  opinions  of  the 
South.  The  original  importation  of  the  African  is 
regarded  by  us  as  a  moral  wrong,  because  associated 
with  acts  of  violence  and  cruelty,  which  nothing 
can  justify.  But  of  the  justice,  necessity,  and  advan 
tages  of  the  institution,  as  now  entailed  upon  the 
South,  we  cannot,  after  an  examination  of  the  sub 
ject,  feel  a  doubt.  To  the  negro  himself,  we  con 
sider  it  no  calamity.  He  is  happier  here  than  on 
the  shores  of  his  own  degraded,  savage,  and  most 
unhappy  country — or  rather  the  country  of  his  fa 
thers.  He  is  happier,  also,  as  a  slave,  than  he  could 
be  as  a  freeman.  This  is  the  result  of  the  peculiari 
ties  of  his  character;  and  will,  we  trust,  be  demon 
strated  in  the  course  of  this  work  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  reader.  Jt  may  be  said  that  the  slave-holders 
have  no  right  to  constitute  themselves  the  tribunal 
for  the  decision  of  this  question.  If  we  do  not  judge 
for  ourselves,  of  the  propriety  of  our  own  conduct, 
who  shall  judge  for  us?  But  were  we,  or  rather  the 
people  of  the  South,  not  immediately  interested  in 
the  determination  of  the  question,  the  ignorance, 
childlike  simplicity  and  acknowledged  incapacity  of 
the  blacks,  would  justify  their  masters  in  deciding 


82 

on  the  course  which  their  welfare,  as  well  as  that  of 
the  whites,  rendered  necessary. 

The  abolitionists  deny  the  right  of  the  people  of 
the  South,  under  any  circumstances,  to  hold  their 
fellow  men  in  bondage.  Upon  what  grounds  is  this 
position  assumed?  If  the  master  is  guilty  of  a  wrong, 
it  becomes  his  accusers  to  give  some  evidence  of  his 
crime.  It  is  their  duty  to  prove  that  an  institution, 
which  has  existed  almost  from  the  creation  of  the 
world  to  the  present  time,  which  has  been  en 
couraged  by  the  best  men  of  the  most  enlightened 
ages,  and  which  has  met  the  sanction  of  the  Highest 
— has  become,  since  these  moral  luminaries  arose 
upon  the  world,  guilty  and  calamitous.  It  will  be 
found  difficult  to  obtain  a  direct  and  rational  answer 
to  so  plain  a  demand.  They  deal  wholly  in  rheto 
rical  flourishes;  and  if  they  reply  at  all,  will  tell  us 
that  the  negro  slave  should  not  be  a  slave,  because 
"  he  was  created  free."  The  fact  is  exactly  the  re 
verse.  He  comes  into  the  world  a  slave.  Nay,  we 
might  go  further,  and  assert  that  nature,  in  her  ear 
liest  developments,  exhibits  the  necessity  of  recip 
rocal  command  and  protection.  We  are  all,  in  early 
life,  slaves;  the  laws  of  necessity  and  nature,  as  well 
as  those  of  the  land,  constitute  us  bond,  and  we  re 
main  so  until  we  have  passed  through  nearly  one- 
third  of  our  earthly  pilgrimage.  Who,  then,  will 
pretend  to  assert  that  the  negro  should  not  be  a 
slave  because  he  is  born  free?  But  they  tell  us — 
"  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  he  should  be  free."  It  is 
somewhat  strange,  that  the  will  of  God,  in  this 
point,  has  never  been  expressed  until  it  came  from 
the  oracular  mouths  of  the  abolitionists.  Such  mani 
festations  of  the  divine  will  never  took  place  among 
the  Jews,  where  slavery  was  universal,  nor  among 
the  nations  to  which  the  disciples  of  our  Saviour 
preached — nations  which  were  overrun  with  slaves. 


83 

The  will  and  desire  of  God  is  the  welfare  of  the 
species.  If  negro  slavery  in  the  South  be  incon 
sistent  with  the  happiness  of  the  human  family,  the 
argument  may  apply:  but  if,  as  we  confidently  assert, 
its  existence  is  not  at  war  with  the  well-being  of  the 
greatest  number  of  those  interested,  it  is  wholly 
justifiable.  And  if,  to  go  one  step  further,  the  mea 
sures  of  abolition,  projected  by  the  fanatics,  are 
calculated  to  result  in  consequences  calamitous  to 
the  race,  they  are,  notwithstanding  their  ostenta 
tious  and  obtrusive  piety,  guilty,  in  the  face  of  hea 
ven  and  earth,  of  crimes  of  the  darkest  and  deepest 
crimson. 

The  phrase  which  occurs  in  the  Declaration  of 
American  Independence — "  all  men  are  created  free 
and  equal" — is  perpetually  upon  the  lips  of  the  abo 
litionist,  to  sanction  his  violation  of  the  rights  of  the 
South.  The  following  extract  from  a  speech,  deli 
vered  at  the  late  public  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  by 
Mr.  J.  R.  Burden,  formerly  Speaker  of  the  Senate, 
and  an  early,  fervent,  and  fearless  advocate  of  the 
rights  of  the  slave-holder,  admirably  illustrates  the 
perversion  and  desecration  of  that  celebrated  sen 
tence  of  Jefferson. 

"  On  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  in  the  immediate  neigh 
bourhood  of  this  place,  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence  was  made.  From  it  the  advocates  of  black 
emancipation  take  their  text,  <  All  men  are  created 
free  and  equal,7  &c.  The  construction  they  put  upon 
it  is  unlimited.  Let  us  examine  the  subject  care 
fully.  Did  the  framers  of  the  Declaration,  the  re 
presentatives  of  the  people,  intend  to  declare  that 
domestic  slavery  was  incompatible  with  the  freedom 
of  the  colonies?  If  they  did  not,  their  words  are  of 
no  use  in  the  defence  of  negro  emancipation.  If 
they  did,  why  were  not  all  the  slaves  then  eman 
cipated? 


84 

"In  1781,  the  t  Articles  of  Confederation'  were 
ratified.  Domestic  slavery  ^still  existed.  Why  did 
it  exist,  if  the  construction  of  the  abolitionists  be 
correct  ? 

"  The  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form 
a  more  perfect  union  and  secure  the  blessings  of  li 
berty,  established  the  constitution  in  1787.  Do 
mestic  slavery  still  existed.  No  constitution  could 
have  been  formed,  had  emancipation  been  persisted 
in.  No  union  could  have  been  perfected,  if  theorists 
and  dreamers  had  determined  to  deprive  the  slave- 
holding  states  of  their  property. 

"  The  constitution  was  adopted;  the  union  was  esta 
blished;  the  world  looked  on  it  with  admiration;  yet 
it  did  not  prohibit  domestic  slavery.  So  far  from  it, 
one  of  its  main  features,  that  of  representation,  was 
based  upon  it.  Further,  it  declared  that  the  traffic 
should  not  be  prohibited  by  Congress  prior  to  the 
year  1808.  Perhaps  the  framersof  the  constitution 
thought  that,  by  that  period,  the  increased  popula 
tion  of  the  blacks,  would  supersede  the  necessity  of 
importation. 

"  We  hear,  in  our  day,  much  prating  about  liberty 
and  philanthropy.  The  signers  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  the  framers  of  the  constitu 
tion,  were  quite  as  conversant  with  the  rights  of 
man,  as  the  best  of  us;  they  had  as  much  philan 
thropy;  and,  if  you  will  have  it,  as  much  Chris 
tianity  as  we  profess  to  have.  They  possessed  the 
confidence  of  the  people,  and  deserved  it;  they 
passed  through  the  times  that  tried  men's  souls; 
and,  without  the  fear,  favour,  or  affection  of  power, 
but  in  the  spirit  of  virtue,  wisdom,  and  patriotism, 
perfected  a  union  as  imperishable  as  the  globe  we 
inhabit.  Shall  it  be  said  that  such  men  put  a  blot 
and  a  stain  upon  our  country  ? — So  much  for  the 
text  of  emancipation!" 


85 

We  have  already  shown,  that  slavery  originated 
in  the  practice  of  sparing  and  enslaving  captives 
taken  in  war.     Judge  Blackstone,  whose  argument 
on  this  subject  is  triumphantly  cited  by  the  aboli 
tionists,  denies  the  right  to  make  prisoners  of  war 
slaves;  for,  he  says,  we  have  no  right  to  enslave,  un 
less  we  had  the  right  to  kill;  and  we  had  no  right  to 
kill,  unless  "  in  cases  of  absolute  necessity  for  self- 
defence;  and  it  is  plain  this  absolute  necessity  did 
not  subsist,  since  the  victor  did  not  actually  kill 
him,  but  made  him  prisoner."     (See  chap.   6,  on 
Civil  Government.)     Professor  Dew,  in  his  work 
on  slavery,  furnishes  the  following  conclusive  refu 
tation  of  Blackstone's   position.     "  Upon  this  we 
proceed  to  remark: — 1st.  That  Judge  Blackstone 
here  speaks  of  slavery  in  its  pure  unmitigated  form, 
whereby  an  unlimited  power  is  given  to  the  master 
over   the  life  and  fortune  of  the   slave.      Slavery 
scarcely  exists  any  where  in  this  form,  and  if  it  did, 
it  would  be  a  continuance  of  a  state  of  war,  as  Ros- 
seau  justly  observes,  between  the  captive  and  the 
captor.    Again :  Blackstone,  in  his  argument  on  this 
subject,  seems  to  misunderstand  the  grounds  upon 
which  civilians  place  the  justification  of  slavery,  as 
arising  from  the  laws  of  war.     It  is  well  known, 
that  most  of  the  horrors  of  war  spring  from  the 
principle  of  retaliation,  and  not,  as  Blackstone  sup 
poses,  universally  from  (  absolute  necessity.' ' 

It  seems,  that  almost  every  distinguished  writer 
on  the  jus  gentium,  has  admitted  the  justice  of 
slavery,  under  certain  circumstances.  Grotius  says 
that,  as  the  law  of  nature  permits  prisoners  of  war 
to  be  killed,  so  the  same  law  has  introduced  the 
right  of  making  them  slaves,  that  the  captors,  in 
view  of  the  benefits  arising  from  the  labour  or  sale 
of  their  prisoners,  might  be  induced  to  spare  them. 
Puffendorf  speaks  of  slavery  as  established  "  by  the 
8 


86 

free  consent  of  the  opposing  parties."  Rutherford, 
in  his  Institutes,  says,  "  the  law  of  nations  will  allow 
those  who  are  prisoners  to  be  made  slaves  by  the 
nation  which  takes  them/'  Other  authors  confirm 
the  same  rule. — Vattel  asks,  "are  prisoners  of  war  to 
be  made  slaves?"  and  answers,  "  yes;  in  cases  which 
give  a  right  to  kill  them."  Locke  says,  "he,  to  whom 
a  prisoner  has  forfeited  his  life,  may,  when  he  has 
him  in  his  power,  delay  to  take  it,  and  make  use  of 
him  to  his  own  service,  and  he  does  him  no  injury 
by  it." 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  origin  of  slavery 
in  this  country,  or  the  grounds  on  which  it  was  jus 
tified,  it  has,  in  its  present  state,  in  the  recognition 
of  the  laws,  in  the  practice  of  centuries,  in  the  sup 
port  afforded  to  the  slave  in  infancy  and  weakness, 
in  the  peculiarities  of  his  race  and  position,  and  in  the 
necessities  arising  from  them;  in  the  impracticability 
of  legal  or  peaceful  abolition,  and  in  the  great  advan 
tages  arising  to  the  states,  in  which  it  exists,  to  the 
nation  at  large,  to  the  slaves  themselves,  and  to  the 
whites — a  sanction  more  potential  and  conclusive 
than  the  dicta  of  philosophers. 

The  abolitionist,  who  is  fired  at  the  thought  of  the 
negro  in  contented  and  comfortable  bondage,  scru 
ples  not,  should  his  debtor,  sinking  under  the  heavy 
hand  of  poverty,  fail  to  pay  his  claim,  to  seize  and 
consign  him  to  a  jail.  Here,  debarred  from  common 
food  and  common  air — tlie  damp  straw  his  couch, 
the  mouldering  and  filth-mantled  prison  walls  his 
home,  abandoned  to  suffering,  horror,  and  infamy, 
he  may  weep  over  the  fate  of  his  lone  and  helpless 
wife  and  little  ones — and  admire  the  philanthropy 
of  the  abolitionist!  Such  things  are  of  daily  occur 
rence.  Has  the  abolitionist  then  no  compassion  for 
the  white  slave?  Does  he  think  it  justifiable  to  in 
flict  upon  him  cruelties  which  the  negro  never  fears 


87 

and  never  suffers?  He  will  answer  that  the  white 
man  incurred  an  obligation  to  pay  him.  Does  the 
negro  incur  no  such  obligation  in  return  for  the 
abundance  provided  him  by  his  master?  He  will 
urge  that  the  laws  of  the  land  sanction  it.  And  has 
the  South  no  laws,  or  are  their  laws  alone  to  be  de 
spised  and  trampled  on?  But  he  will  persist — the 
white  man  is  not  held  for  life.  In  certain  cases  he  is 
held  for  life,  condemned  to  respire  only  in  the  loath 
some  atmosphere  of  a  dungeon;  and  if  he  sees  at  all 
the  blessed  sky,  to  gaze  at  it,  with  a  pallid  cheek  and 
an  aching  heart,  through  the  grates  of  that  perpetual 
prison  to  which  his  white  brother — perchance  an 
abolitionist — a  pious  philanthropist,  who  expends 
tens  of  thousands  to  excite  the  happy  negro  to  dis 
content  and  murder — has  condemned  him  for  the 
crime  of  poverty! — Such  things  may  occur,  even  at 
the  enlightened  and  sanctimonious  North  and  East. 
The  poor  white  slave  may  thus  live — perish  thus — 
— -and  who  tells  him  that  his  slavery  is  unlawful, 
an  offence  against  God,  or  bids  him  destroy  his 
jailor  and  set  himself  free? 

The  laws  of  every  community  justify  a  certain 
state  of  domestic  bondage.  The  child  is,  to  a  cer 
tain  extent,  the  slave  of  his  father,  the  servant  or 
the  apprentice  of  his  master.  True,  the  master  is 
restricted  by  law;  and  he  can  neither  punish  unne 
cessarily,  nor  use  those,  whose  care  is  entrusted  with 
him,  with  cruelty  or  neglect.  But  is  not  the  slave 
holder  of  the  South  equally  controlled  ?  Is  not  the 
slave  equally  protected?  If  the  law  is  justified  in 
the  sanction  of  slavery,  for  the  undoubted  benefit  of 
society  and  of  those  concerned,  for  a  term  of  ten  or 
fifteen  years,  why  not  of  twenty,  or  fifty,  or  an  hun 
dred?  The  welfare  of  society  is  the  object  of  both 
species  of  servitude;  both  are  sanctioned  by  national 
law,  and  both  must  be  continued. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Slavery  considered  in  continuation — Sanctioned 
by  the  Old  and  Neio  Testaments,  and  accord 
ant  with  the  precepts  and  spirit  of  Christianity. 

THE  scheme  of  abolition  had  its  origin  in  religious 
fanaticism;  and  is  still  urged  on  religious  grounds. 
Religious  feelings  and  prejudices  are  invoked  in  its 
favour;  religious  periodicals  are  enlisted  in  its  sup 
port;  and  even  religious  persecution  has  been 
already  used  to  aid  and  urge  its  advance.  These 
measures  have,  it  is  feared,  deceived  some,  who 
have  not  examined  this  subject,  into  a  belief  that 
slavery  is  inconsistent  with  religion;  and  good,  but 
weak  men,  have  thus  been  induced  to  lend  their 
names  to  one  of  the  most  sanguinary  schemes  which 
ever  borrowed  the  cloak  of  religion  to  conceal  the 
purpose  and  perpetration  of  crime.  To  such  it  may 
be  well  to  mention,  that  the  whole  clergy  of  the 
South,  certainly  not  inferior,  in  any  particular,  to 
their  brethren  in  any  part  of  the  world,  lend  their 
express  sanction  to  slavery.  If  inconsistent  with 
the  letter  or  spirit  of  Christianity,  if  cruel  or  op 
pressive,  could  they  be  thus  induced  unanimously 
to  approve  and  countenance  it?  Such  an  imputa 
tion  on  their  purity  and  holiness  cannot  for  a  mo 
ment  be  cherished. 

We  will,  however,  proceed  by  quotations  from 
Scripture,  to  prove  that  slavery,  so  far  from  being 
irreconcilable  to  religion,  is  fully  sanctioned  by  the 
clear  and  unequivocal  expression  of  the  divine  will. 


89 

Immediately  after  the  deluge,  Noah,  an  inspired 
prophet,  pronounced  the  following  curse  upon  the 
posterity  of  Ham,  from  whom  the  African  race  is 
supposed  to  have  sprung: — "  Cursed  be  Canaan;  a 
servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  to  his  brethen.  And 
he  said,  blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Shem;  and  Ca 
naan  shall  be  his  servant.  God  shall  enlarge  Japheth, 
and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem;  and  Canaan 
shall  be  his  servant."  Gen.  ix.  25,  26,  27.  Thus 
when  there  was  but  one  family  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  a  portion  of  that  family  was  doomed  to  be 
slaves  to  the  others. 

In  the  covenant  made  by  God  with  Abraham,  the 
patriarch  is  directed  to  ratify  it  with  the  ceremonial 
of  circumcision.  Among  those  included  in  the  co 
venant,  were  slaves.  "  He  that  is  born  in  thy  house, 
and  he  that  is  bought  with  thy  money,  must  needs 
be  circumcised. "  Gen.  xvii.  13.  In  the  27th  verse 
of  the  same  chapter,  we  are  informed  that  this  direc 
tion  was  obeyed:  "And  all  the  men  of  his  house, 
born  in  the  house,  and  bought  with  money  of  the 
stranger,  were  circumcised  with  him."  From  these 
passages,  it  is  evident  that  slavery  existed  in  the 
time  of  Abraham;  that  the  patriarch  was  himself  a 
slave-holder;  that  his  slaves  were  not  captives  in 
war,  nor  convicts  of  crime,  but  "  bought  with  mo 
ney,  of  the  stranger;"  that  Abraham,  notwithstand 
ing  that  he  was  a  slave-holder,  was  the  chosen  of 
God  among  the  families  of  the  earth;  and  that  God, 
in  making  the  covenant,  mentions  the  slaves?  and 
impliedly  sanctions  their  bondage. 

After  this  time,  the  patriarch  increased  his  stock 
of  slaves.  In  Gen.  xx.  14,  it  is  said,  "  And  Abime- 
lech  took  sheep  and  oxen,  and  men  servants  and 
women  servants,  and  gave  them  unto  Abraham." 
In  a  subsequent  chapter,  a  servant  of  Abraham  says, 
"  And  the  Lord  hath  blessed  my  master  greatly,  and 
8* 


90 

he  is  become  great:  and  he  hath  given  him  flocks  and 
herds,  and  silver  and  gold,  and  men  servants  and 
maid  servants,  and  camels  and  asses."  Gen.  xxiv.  35. 
Jacob  also,  Gen.  xxx.  43,  is  spoken  of  as  follows: 
"  And  the  man  increased  exceedingly,  and  had  much 
cattle,  and  maid  servants  and  men  servants,  and  ca 
mels  and  asses."  There  is  but  little  doubt,  notwith 
standing  the  Lord  frequently  declares  himself  "  the 
God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob/7  that  all  those 
holy  and  faithful  patriarchs  were  slaveholders;  and 
that  men  servants  and  maid  servants  constituted  a 
large  constituent  in  the  wealth,  which  the  favour  of 
Providence  conferred  upon  them. 

The  book  of  Exodus  furnishes  many  conclusive 
evidences  of  the  direct  sanction  of  slavery.  In  the 
12th  chapter,  a  distinction  is  made  between  hired 
servants  and  slaves,  the  latter  being  entitled  to  the 
benefit  of  the  covenant,  the  former  excluded.  u  But 
every  man  servant  that  is  bought  for  money,  when 
thou  hast  circumcised  him,  then  shall  he  eat  thereof. 
A  foreigner  and  a  hired  servant  shall  not  eat  there 
of."  See  verses  44  and  45.  The  following  passages 
recognize  slavery  in  the  most  distinct  manner;  and 
refer  to  slaves  as  property.  "And  if  a  man  smite 
his  servant,  or  his  maid,  with  a  rod,  and  he  die 
under  his  hand,  he  shall  be  surely  punished.  Not 
withstanding,  if  he  continue  a  day  or  two,  he  shall 
not  be  punished :  for  he  is  his  money  "  The  whole 
chapter  abounds  in  evidence  of  the  existence  of  sla 
very,  in  some  cases  limited  in  duration,  in  others 
perpetual. 

In  Leviticus,  the  subject  is  still  further  elucidated. 
The  following  passages,  from  the  25th  chapter,  give 
a  full  account  of  slavery  among  the  Jews,  as  regu 
lated  by  the  ordinances  of  God.  "  And  if  thy  bro 
ther,  that  dwelleth  by  thee,  be  waxen  poor,  and  be 
sold  unto  thee;  thou  shalt  not  compel  him  to  serve 


91 

as  a  bond  servant:  but  as  a  hired  servant,  and  as  a 
sojourner  he  shall  be  with  thee,  and  shall  serve  thee 
unto  the  year  of  the  jubilee:  and  then  shall  he  de 
part  from  thee,  both  he  and  his  children  with  him, 
and  shall  return  unto  his  own  family,  and  unto  the 
possession  of  his  fathers  shall  he  return.  For  they 
are  my  servants  which  I  brought  forth  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt;  they  shall  not  be  sold  as  bondmen. 
Thou  shalt  not  rule  over  him  with  rigour,  but  shalt 
fear  thy  God.  Both  thy  bondmen  and  the  bond 
maids,  which  thou  shalt  have,  shall  be  of  the  hea 
then  that  are  round  about  you  j  of  them  shall  ye  buy 
bondmen  and  bondmaids.  Moreover,  of  the  children 
of  the  strangers  that  do  sojourn  among  you,  of  them 
shall  ye  buy,  and  of  their  families  that  are  with  you, 
which  they  begat  in  your  land;  and  they  shall  be 
your  possession.  And  ye  shall  take  them  as  an 
inheritance  for  your  children  after  you  to  inherit 
them  for  a  possession;  they  shall  be  your  bondmen 
for  ever;  but  over  your  brethren,  the  children  of 
Israel,  ye  shall  not  rule  one  over  another  writh 
rigour." 

From  these  passages,  it  appears  that  the  divine 
code  discouraged  the  holding  of  the  children  of  Is 
rael  as  slaves;  and,  when  they  fell  into  bondage, 
secured  them  certain  privileges,  in  consideration  of 
their  being  members  of  the  favoured  nation.  But 
a  policy  wholly  different  is  directed  towards  fo 
reigners  or  the  descendants  of  foreigners.  The  Jews 
are  not  merely  permitted  but  directed  to  procure 
from  them  slaves — "  of  them  shall  ye  buy  bondmen 
and  bondmaids."  The  "  strangers"  occupied  to 
wards  the  Jews  the  relative  position  which  the 
Africans  bear  towards  us,  except  that  they  were  not, 
like  the  Africans,  separated  by  the  hand  of  nature 
from  their  masters,  and  from  difference  in  colour 
and  inferiority  of  character,  rendered  incapable  of 


92 

equality  and  amalgamation.  It  also  appears  by  the 
passage  quoted,  that  God  directly  sanctioned  the 
purchase  and  sale  of  slaves — "  of  them  shall  ye 
BUY" — and  regards  them  as  a  "possession."  The 
term  of  bondage,  sanctioned  by  Heaven,  was  perpe 
tual  "for  ever;"  and  the  slaves  are  directed  to  be 
held  "  as  an  inheritance  for  your  children  after 
you  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession;  they  shall 
be  your  bondmen  for  ever."  It  is  impossible  to 
conceive  or  express  a  sanction  of  slavery,  as  it  exists 
in  this  country,  more  full,  unequivocal  and  conclu 
sive. 

The  decalogue  contains  several  allusions  to  sla 
very,  accompanied  by  an  implied  sanction  of  the 
institution.  The  Fourth  Commandment  provides 
for  an  exemption  from  labour  in  favour  of  the  "  man 
servant  and  maid  servant;7'  and  the  Tenth  Com 
mandment  prohibits  the  coveting  a  neighbour's 
"  man  servant  or  maid  servant."  In  Samuel,  xxv. 
10,  there  is  reference  to  the  existence  of  slavery, 
and  to  the  escape  of  slaves  from  their  masters — 
"  there  be  many  servants  now-a-days  that  break 
away  every  man  from  his  master."  In  the  4th  and 
5th  chapters  of  Nehemiah,  the  existence  of  slavery 
is  mentioned;  and  David,  the  man  after  God's  own 
heart,  thus  refers  to  slavery  to  illustrate  the  fervour 
of  his  adoration: — "As  the  eyes  of  servants  look 
unto  the  hands  of  their  master,  and  the  eyes  of  a 
maiden  to  her  mistress,  so  our  eyes  wait  upon  the 
Lord  our  God."  Solomon  says,  "The  king's  fa 
vour  is  towards  a  wise  servant;"  and  thus  sanctions 
domestic  discipline,  "  a  servant  will  not  be  corrected 
by  words."  Job,  "  a  perfect  and  an  upright  man," 
sighs,  in  his  afflictions,  for  that  grave,  where,  he 
pathetically  says,  "  the  prisoners  rest  together,  and 
the  slave  is  free  from  his  master:"  intimating  that 
the  slave  was  not  free  until  death. 


93 

Having  proved  by  various  passages  from  the  Old 
Testament,  that  slavery  not  only  existed  among  the 
Jews,  but  received  the  direct  sanction  of  God,  we 
might  ask  the  advocates  of  abolition  to  prove,  that, 
under  the  Christian  dispensation,  this  sanction  was 
ever  withdrawn.  But  we  will  not  wait  for  the  per 
formance  of  an  impossibility,  but  proceed  to  show 
that  the  same  sanction  was  renewed  by  our  Saviour 
and  his  disciples.* 

At  the  period  of  the  advent  of  Christ,  slavery 
prevailed  throughout  the  world.  In  that  portion  of 
Asia,  in  which  Christianity  \vas  first  preached,  it 
existed  in  its  severest  form,  and  to  a  very  great  ex 
tent.  Had  it  been  regarded  as  an  evil,  it  could  not 
have  escaped  the  animadversion,  not  only  of  Christ, 
but  of  all  the  holy  men  who  became,  at  his  depar 
ture,  the  preachers  of  his  faith.  A  subject  so  nearly 
connected  with  the  happiness  of  the  mass  of  man 
kind,  could  not  have  escaped,  and  did  not  escape, 
their  attention:  and,  had  it  not  possessed  their  ap 
probation,  must  have  been  condemned.  Instead  of  this, 
however,  we  find  the  institution  sanctioned,  slave 
holders  admitted  into  the  bosom  of  the  church,  and 
slaves  admonished  to  humility  and  obedience.  "  The 
apostles,"  (says  a  citizen  of  Georgia,  the  author  of  a 
valuable  pamphlet  on  this  subject,  entitled,  Remarks 

*  If  it  be  meant  that  in  the  Christian  religion  there  is  a 
special  denunciation  against  slavery — that  slavery  and  Chris 
tianity  cannot  exist  together — I  think  the  honourable  gentle 
man  must  himself  admit  that  the  proposition  is  historically 
false. 

One  peculiar  characteristic  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  if 
I  must  venture  in  this  place  upon  such  a  theme,  is,  that  it  has 
accommodated  itself  to  all  states  of  society,  rather  than  that 
it  has  selected  any  particular  state  of  society  for  the  peculiar 
exercise  of  its  influence.  If  it  has  added  lustre  to  the  sceptre 
of  the  sovereign,  it  has  equally  been  the  consolation  of  the 
slave. — Speech  of  Mr.  Canning. 


94 

upon  Slavery,)  "  did  not  go  forth  and  organize  abo 
lition  societies,  or  attempt  to  disturb  the  civil  rela 
tions  of  men,  under  the  pretence  that  the  order  of 
things,  which,  under  God,  had  been  established, 
must  be  overturned.  They  preached  the  gospel  to 
masters  and  servants,  and  promised  its  rewards  to 
all  who  should  obey  its  precepts.  They  told  mas 
ters,  to  give  unto  their  servants  that  which  was  just 
and  equal,  and  told  servants,  to  be  obedient  to  their 
masters;  and  thus  they  endeavoured,  by  prescribing 
the  duty,  to  promote  the  comfort,  of  both.  (  Ser 
vants,'  says  the  apostle  Peter,  <  be  subject  to  your 
masters  with  all  fear;  not  only  to  the  good  and 
gentle,  BUT  ALSO  TO  THE  FROWARD.  For  this  is 
thankworthy,  if  a  man,  for  conscience  towards  God, 
endure  grief,  suffering  wrongfully.  For  what  glory 
is  it,  if,  when  you  are  buffeted  for  your  faults,  you 
take  it  patiently;  but  if  when  you  do  well  and 
suffer  for  it,  ye  take  it  patiently,  this  is  acceptable 
to  God.7  Let  it  not  be  said  that  this  express  recog 
nition  of  the  obligation  and  duties  of  slavery,  by 
him,  of  whom  the  Saviour  said,  i  on  this  rock  will 
I  build  my  church,'  applies  only  to  hired  service. 
The  institution,  as  it  then  existed,  was  one  of  ri 
gorous  and  perpetual  domestic  servitude;  and  it 
was  in  express  reference  to  that  system,  that  the 
apostle  prescribed  the  domestic  code  of  relative  duty 
between  master  and  slave.  Nor  can  any  thing  averse 
to  this  be  inferred  from  the  use  of  the  word  <  ser 
vants9  in  our  translation;  the  original  Greek  word 
is  l  douloi,'  the  proper  rendering  of  which,  in  Eng 
lish,  is  <  slaves.'  We  cannot  imagine  any  stronger 
recognition  of  the  legality  of  slavery  than  this  solemn 
injunction  of  PETER  to  the  slave,  not  only  to  be 
faithful  to  the  just  and  kind  owner,  but  to  be  hum 
ble  and  submissive  to  the  buffets  and  stripes  of  even 
the  capricious,  unjust,  and  tyrannical  master.  If  St. 


95 

Peter  did  not  deem  it  his  duty  to  pronounce  domes 
tic  bondage  unlawful,  and  proclaim  liberty  to  the 
captive,  and  freedom  to  the  slave,  how  comes  it  to 
be  incumbent  on  the  self-constituted  missionaries  of 
modern  fanaticism,  to  preach  down  slavery  as  a  sin 
against  Christianity,  and  to  preach  up  abolition  as  a 
Christian  duty?  Are  they  wiser  and  better  than 
the  apostle,  nay,  than  even  their  gracious  and  divine 
Master;  and  is  it  their  high  province  to  overturn  a 
domestic  relation,  which  Christ  and  his  early  disci 
ples  were  content  to  regulate?  Regulation,  not 
abolition,  was  all  the  author  and  first  teachers  of 
Christianity  aimed  at;  and  while  they  taught  the 
slave  his  duty  to  his  master,  they  also  humanely 
bade  '  masters  do  the  same  things  to  your  servants, 
forbearing  threatening,  knowing  that  your  master 
also  is  in  heaven,  neither  is  there  respect  of  persons 
with  him.'  (Ephesians,  chap.  16.)" 

The  case  of  the  centurion  affords  an  instance  where 
our  divine  Master  himself,  at  the  request  of  the  mas 
ter,  restored  a  sick  slave.  The  centurion  avowed 
himself  a  slave-holder.  "I  am,"  said  he,  "a  man 
under  authority,  having  soldiers  under  me.  I  say 
to  one  '  go,'  and  he  goeth,  and  to  another  '  come,' 
and  he  cometh,  and  to  my  servant  <  do  this]  and 
he  doeth  it."  Yet  our  Saviour  healed  his  sick  ser 
vant  without  desiring  his  master  to  free  him,  or 
uttering  a  word  in  censure  of  their  relation  to  each 
other. 

"  Let  every  man,"  says  Paul,  "  abide  in  the  same 
calling  wherein  he  is  called.  Art  thou  called  being 
a  servant?  Care  not  for  it;  but  if  thou  mayest  be 
made  free,  use  it  rather.  (1  Corinthians,  vii.  20,  21.) 
Again :  "  Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the 
yoke,  count  their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honour, 
that  the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrines  be  not  blas 
phemed;  and  they  that  have  believing  masters,  let 


96 

them  not  despise  them,  because  they  are  brethren, 
but  rather  do  them  service;  because  they  are  faithful 
and  beloved  partakers  of  the  benefit.  These  things 
teach  and  exhort."  1  Tim.  vi.  1,  2. 

The  Epistle  of  Paul  to  Philemon,  deserves  pecu 
liar  attention,  not  only  because  it  furnishes  a  distin 
guished  instance  in  which  the  justice  and  legality  of 
slavery  is  admitted,  but  exhibits  the  holy  and  emi 
nent  apostle  as  exerting  his  influence  to  restore  the 
runaway  slave  to  his  master.  Philemon,  whom 
Paul  had  converted,  owned  a  slave,  named  Onesi- 
mus,  who  ran  away  from  his  master,  and  fled  to 
Rome.  Paul  subsequently  visited  Rome;  and  there 
converted  Onesimus.  He  persuaded  Onesimus  to 
return  to  his  master  and  his  duty;  and  writes  to 
Philemon  to  receive  him  with  kindness.  The  fol 
lowing  passage  shows  in  what  estimation  Paul,  the 
great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  held  Philemon,  the 
slave-holder.  "  Paul  a  prisoner  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  Timothy  our  brother,  unto  Philemon,  our  dear 
ly  beloved  and  fellow  labourer:  grace  to  you,  and 
peace  from  God  our  Father,  and  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  I  thank  my  God:  making  mention  of  thee 
always  in  my  prayers;  hearing  of  thy  love  and  faith 
which  thou  hast  toward  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  toward 
all  the  saints;  that  the  communication  of  thy  faith 
may  become  effectual,  by  the  acknowledging  of 
every  good  thing,  which  is  in  you,  in  Jesus  Christ. 
For  we  have  great  joy  and  consolation  in  thy  love, 
because  the  bowels  of  the  saints  are  refreshed  by 
thee,  brother." 

The  spirit  which  pervades  the  following  passage, 
cannot  fail  to  strike  the  Christian  reader  with  admi 
ration;  and  constitutes  an  illustrious  contrast  to  the 
troublous,  fierce  and  insurrectionary  disposition  ma 
nifested  by  the  fanatics. 

"  Wherefore,"  continues  Paul,  "  though  I  might 


97 

be  much  bold  in  Christ  to  enjoin  thee,  that  which  is 
convenient,  yet  for  love  sake  I  rather  beseech  thee, 
being  such  an  one  as  Paul  the  aged,  and  now  also  a 
prisoner  of  Jesus  Christ;  I  beseech  thee  for  my  son 
Onesimus,  whom  I  have  begotten  in  my  bonds: 
which  in  time  past  was  to  thee  unprofitable,  but  now 
profitable  to  thee  and  me;  whom  I  have  sent  again. 
Thou  therefore  receive  him,  that  is,  mine  own 
bowels.  Whom  1  would  have  retained  with  me, 
that  in  thy  stead  he  might  have  ministered  unto  me 
in  the  bonds  of  the  gospel:  but  without  thy  mind 
would  I  do  nothing;  that  thy  benefit  should  not  be 
as  it  were  of  necessity,  but  willingly.  For  perhaps 
he  therefore  departed  for  a  season,  that  thou  should- 
est  receive  him  for  ever;  not  now  as  a  servant,  but 
above  a  servant,  a  brother  beloved,  specially  to  me, 
but  how  much  more  unto  thee,  both  in  the  flesh  and 
in  the  Lord?  If  thou  count  me  therefore  as  a  part 
ner,  receive  him  as  myself,  if  he  hath  wronged  thee, 
or  oweth  thee  ought,  put  that  on  mine  account:  I 
Paul  have  written  it  with  mine  own  hand,  I  will 
repay  it,  albeit  I  do  not  say  how  thou  owest  unto 
me  thine  own  self  besides.  Yea,  brother,  let  me 
have  joy  of  thee  in  the  Lord:  refresh  my  bowels  in 
the  Lord.  Having  confidence  in  thy  obedience,  I 
wrote  unto  thee,  knowing  that  thou  wilt  also  do 
more  than  I  say." 

The  fanatics  who  find  it  impossible  to  explain 
away  these  cases  of  the  direct  sanction  of  slavery, 
and  who  seek  in  vain  for  a  line  or  word  which  dis 
courages  or  condemns  that  institution,  seize,  in  their 
despair,  upon  the  golden  rule — "  do  unto  others  as 
you  would  that  others  should  do  unto  you,"  and  so 
pervert  it  as  to  make  it  condemn  what  our  Saviour 
and  his  apostles  directly  sanctioned.  This  presump 
tuous  and  profane  attempt  to  make  our  Saviour's 
precepts  inconsistent  with  his  conduct,  to  distort  his 
9 


98 

language,  by  a  laboured  and  false  inference,  into  a 
censure  of  that  which  he  impliedly  encouraged, 
cannot  be  regarded  without  indignation.  It  exhi 
bits  the  desperate  character  of  that  fanaticism,  which 
would  rather  cast  a  reproach  upon  the  Divine  Found 
er  of  our  blessed  religion,  than  relinquish  one  of  the 
cherished  chimeras  of  their  overheated  and  bewil 
dered  fancies. 

Their  application  of  the  "  golden  rule,"  strips  it 
of  its  golden  attributes,  and  makes  it  sanction  all 
that  it  was  intended  to  condemn.  They  insist  that 
the  maxim,  as  interpreted  by  them,  requires  that 
the  authority  of  the  master  over  the  slave  should  be 
immediately  relinquished.  We  may  add  that,  it 
requires  further,  that  the  authority  of  the  father  over 
his  child,  of  the  master  over  his  apprentice,  of  the 
tutor  over  his  pupil,  should  also  be  given  up.  It 
requires  that  the  ruler  should  not  control  the  pri 
vate  citizen;  that  the  judge  should  not  sentence  the 
convict,  nor  the  jailor  confine  the  thief.  Neither 
the  child,  servant,  nor  scholar — the  citizen,  convict, 
nor  thief  are  dealt  with  according  to  their  desires;  nor 
as  those,  in  whose  power  they  are  placed,  would  de 
sire,  if  their  relative  position  were  reversed.  That 
rule  which  would  require  that  their  wishes  should 
be  regarded  as  rights,  and  conceded  accordingly, 
would  abrogate  all  law,  would  place  the  innocent  at 
the  mercy  of  the  guilty,  involve  right  and  wrong  in 
indistinguishable  confusion,  and  render  society  a 
chaotic  and  jarring  mass  of  wretchedness  and  crime. 

The  direct  and  only  rational  exposition  of  the 
golden  rule  is,  that,  in  every  relation  of  life,  we 
should  do  that  which  we  believe  to  be  our  strict 
duty;  that  we  should  free  ourselves  from  the  preju 
dices  and  errors  which  our  selfishness  begets,  and 
consider  our  duties  rigidly  and  disinterestedly,  un 
swayed  by  the  flattery,  weakness  and  self-deceit  of 


99 

our  own  natures.  For  this  purpose  we  should  ima 
gine  ourselves  in  the  place  of  him  with  whom  we 
are  acting,  and  do  unto  him  that  which  we,  pos 
sessed  of  our  present  knowledge  of  the  circum 
stances  of  the  case,  would  conceive  proper,  and 
which  we  would,  if  guided  by  a  right  intelligence, 
wish  done  unto  us.  The  father  should  do  unto  his 
child  as  he  would,  if  a  child,  and  informed  of  his 
own  interest,  wish  his  father  should  do  unto  him; 
in  like  manner  slave-holders  should  act  towards 
their  slaves,  as  a  slave,  possessed  of  their  know 
ledge  of  the  calamitous  results  of  emancipation,  and 
willing  to  be  guided  by  that  knowledge,  would  wish 
them  to  act.  If  the  slave-holder,  by  placing  him 
self,  in  fancy,  in  the  condition  of  the  slave,  can 
imagine  that  the  emancipation  of  the  mass  of  igno 
rant,  indolent  and  savage  blacks  in  the  South  would 
result  in  consequences  favourable  to  the  greatest 
good  of  the  greatest  number,  he  has  a  right  to  eman 
cipate  them.  But  until  he  can  arrive  at  that  con 
viction,  he  has  no  moral  right  to  flood  the  country 
with  the  horrors  which  must  ensue,  and  would  be 
guilty  of  an  act  of  patricidal  and  guilty  madness — 
ruinous  to  his  country,  his  race,  and  even  to  the 
objects  of  his  ill-directed  and  malign  benevolence. 


,-VvV. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Slavery  considered,  in  continuation — Influence 
of  Slavery — on  civilization — on  the  female  sex 
— on  morality — on  the  political  character  and 
destinies  of  a  country — on  our  country. 

A  PIOUS  and  correct  mind  cannot  but  hesitate  to 
question  the  general  benevolence  of  an  institution 
which  appears  to  have  resulted  from  the  laws  of  na 
ture,  to  have  existed  from  the  earliest  period,  and  to 
have  prevailed  beneath  the  eye  and  sanction  of  our 
Saviour  himself.  We  cannot  but  believe,  that  if 
slavery  were  an  evil,  it  could  not  have  been  thus 
linked  with  the  necessities  of  the  race;  thus  entailed, 
generation  after  generation,  upon  millions  of  the 
human  family,  and  permitted  to  exist  in  its  most 
rigorous  form,  even  among  God's  favoured  people, 
and  in  the  immediate  presence  of  the  Divine  Found 
er  of  Christianity.  An  examination  of  its  influence 
upon  the  prosperity  of  nations,  will  vindicate  Provi 
dence  from  the  presumptuous  charge  of  having  con 
tinued  and  sustained  an  institution  inimical  to  the 
moral  and  physical  interests  of  the  race;  and  prove 
that  slavery,  instead  of  operating  injuriously,  has,  in 
its  general  influence,  tended  to  ameliorate  the  condi 
tion  and  elevate  the  character  of  mankind. 

The  civilization  of  the  race,  if  not  kindled,  was 
aided  and  heightened  by  the  institution  of  slavery. 
Slaves  are  only  valuable  where  regular  labour  is  to 
be  performed ;  and  must,  in  all  ages,  have  been  en- 


101 

gaged  in  agriculture.  The  pursuit  of  agriculture  has 
always  tended,  more  than  any  other  cause,  to  soften 
and  enlighten  the  character  of  man.  It  wins  him  from 
the  chase  or  the  battle-field;  it  gives  him  permanent 
employment;  connects  him  with  a  fixed  spot;  and 
acquaints  him  with  the  comforts  of  home.  Domes 
tic  attachments  soon  spring  up,  and,  cherished  be 
neath  the  roof  of  the  cotter,  succeed  in  introducing 
new  and  more  refined  pursuits  and  pleasures.  Sla 
very,  probably  coeval  with  the  birth  of  agriculture, 
continued  to  impel  the  master  onward  in  the  career 
of  civilization;  it  gathered  around  him  the  comforts 
of  life;  it  accumulated  wealth  for  him;  and  by  crea 
ting  artificial  wants,  and  furnishing  the  means  for 
their  gratification,  excited  new  desires  and  awakened 
new  faculties  for  their  attainment.  Manufactures  and 
commerce  succeeded;  the  arts  of  civilized  life  sprang 
into  existence;  and  man  became  a  refined  and  intel 
lectual  being. 

In  America,  the  only  states  in  which,  at  its  dis 
covery,  slavery  existed,  were  Peru  and  Mexico. 
"  When  compared,"  says  Robertson,  "  with  the 
other  parts  of  the  new  world,  Mexico  and  Peru 
may  be  considered  as  polished  states."  The  people 
had  collected  in  cities;  possessed  a  government,  laws, 
and  system  of  religion,  and  had  acquired  some  pro 
ficiency  in  the  arts — attainments  resulting,  no  doubt, 
from  slavery. 

In  the  islands  of  the  South  Sea,  Captain  Cook  was 
astonished  at  the  populousness  of  the  Otaheite  and 
Society  Islands.  It  is  ascribed  to  the  existence  of 
slavery,  which  prevailed  in  those  islands. 

In  a  late  history  of  Africa,  (Family  Library,  No. 
1 6, )  the  following  remark  occurs :  "  It  deserves  par 
ticular  notice,  that  the  nations  in  this  degrading 
state  (slavery)  are  the  most  numerous,  the  most 
9* 


102 

powerful,  and  the  most  advanced  in  the  arts  and 
improvements  of  life." 

Professor  Dew  is  of  opinion  that  the  introduction 
of  slavery  among  the  Indians  of  this  country,  would 
have  averted  the  approaching  annihilation  of  the 
aboriginal  race.     He  says,    "  When  our   ancestors 
first  settled   on   this  continent,   the   savages  were 
around   and   among   them,   and  were   everywhere 
spread  over  this  immense  territory.     Now,  where 
are   they? — Where    are    the    warlike    tribes    that 
went  to  battle  under  their  chieftains?    They  have 
rapidly  disappeared,  as  the  pale  faces  have  advanced. 
Their    numbers    have    dwindled    to    insignificance. 
Within  the  limits  of  the  original  states,  the  primi 
tive  stock  has  been  reduced  to  15,000.     Within  the 
whole  of  the  United  States,  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
there  are  but  105,000;  and  on  the  whole  of  our  ter 
ritory,  east  and  west  of  the  Mississippi,  extending 
over  thirty-four  degrees  of  latitude  and  fifty-eight  of 
longitude,  there  are  but  313,130!     Miserable  rem 
nant  of  the  myriads  of  former  days!     And  yet  the 
government  of  our    country  has  exhausted   every 
means  for  their  civilization;  and  the  philanthropist 
has   not  been   idle  in   their    behalf.     Schools  have 
been  erected,  both  public  and  private;  missionaries 
have  been  sent  among  them — and  all  in  vain.     The 
President  of  the  United  States  now  tells  you  that 
their  removal  further  to  the  West,  is  necessary — - 
that  those  who  live  on  our  borders,  in  spite  of  all 
our  efforts  to  civilize  them,  are  rapidly  deteriorating 
in  character,  and  becoming  every  day  more  misera~ 
ble  and  destitute." 

"  Slavery,"  Mr.  Dew  continues,  "  we  assert 
again,  appears  to  be  the  only  means  that  we  know 
of,  under  heaven,  by  which  the  ferocity  of  the  sav 
age  can  be  conquered,  his  wandering  habits  eradi^ 


103 

cated,  his  slothfulness — by  which,  in  fine,  his  nature 
can  be  changed.     The  Spaniards  enslaved  the  In 
dians  in  South  America,  and  they  were  the  most 
cruel  and  relentless  of  masters.     Still,  under  their 
system  of  cruel  and  harsh  discipline,  an  infinitely 
larger  portion  of  the  aborigines  were  saved   than 
with  us,  and  will,  no  doubt,  in  the  lapse  of  ages, 
mix  and  harmonize  with  the  Europeans,  and  be  in 
all  respects  their  equals.    From  their  inhuman  treat 
ment  of  the  Indians  at  first,  numbers  died  in  the 
process  of  taming  and  subjugating;  but  in  the  end, 
their  system  Jias  proved  more  humane  than  ours, 
and  demonstrates,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  nothing  is 
so  fit  as  slavery  to  change  the  nature  of  the  savage. 
i  We  observe,'  says  Humboldt,  '  and  the  observa 
tion  is  consoling  to  humanity,  that  not  only  has  the 
number  of  Indians  in  South  America  and  Mexico 
been  on  the  increase  for  the  last  century,  (he  pub 
lished  his  work  in  1808,)  but  that  the  whole  of  the 
vast  region  which  we  designate  by  the  general  name 
of  TsfewT  Spain  is  much  better  inhabited  at  present 
than  it  was  before  the  arrival  of  the  Europeans.' 
He  gives  a  very  remarkable  instance  of  the  effects 
of  an  unjust  slavery  on  the  industry  and  agriculture 
of  the  country.     He  speaks  of  the  alcaldias  may- 
ores,  a  sort  of  provincial  magistrates  and  judges  in 
Mexico,  forcing  the  Indians  to  purchase  cattle  of 
them,  and  afterwards  reducing  them  to  slavery  for 
non-payment  of  the  debts  thus  contracted;  and  he 
adds,  upon  the  authority  of  Fray  Antonio,  monk  of 
St.  Jerome,  that  '  the  individual  happiness  of  these 
unfortunate  wretches  was  not  certainly  increased  by 
the  sacrifice  of  their  liberty  for  a  horse  or  a  mule, 
to  work  for  their  master's  profit.     But  yet,  in  the 
midst  of  this  state  of  things,  brought  on  by  abuses, 
agriculture  and  industry  were  seen  to  increase?  ' 
The  views  of  Professor  Dew  on  this  subject  are 


104 

4 

confirmed  by  Secretary  Cass,  who,  referring  to  the 
Cherokees  as  the  only  tribe  that  has  acquired  partial 
civilization,  says:  "  The  causes  which  have  led  to 
this  state  of  things  are  too  peculiar  ever  to  produce  an 
extensive  result.  They  have  been  operating  for  many 
years;  and  among  the  most  prominent  of  them  has 
been  the  introduction  of  slaves,  by  which  means 
that  unconquerable  aversion  to  labour,  so  charac 
teristic  of  all  savage  tribes,  can  be  indulged.77 

One  of  the  most  pleasing  incidents  of  slavery  is 
its  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  female  sex. 
Among  all  savage  people  women  are  degraded  into 
slaves,  the  abject  drudges  of  their  brutal  lords.  The 
men  indulge  in  the  chase,  or  pursue  their  wars,  and 
leave  to  helpless  woman  a  lot  of  cruelty  and  degra 
dation,  of  labour  without  intermission,  suffering 
without  sympathy.  One  of  the  first  fruits  of  slavery 
is  the  rescue  of  the  gentle  victims  from  their  unde 
served  and  wretched  fate.  The  slave  relieves  the 
woman.  Released  from  a  condition  worse  than  that 
of  bondage,  leisure  is  afforded;  and  with  woman,  in 
her  rudest  state,  leisure  must  result  in  improve 
ment.  Her  faculties  are  developed;  her  gentle  and 
softening  influence  is  seen  and  felt;  she  assumes  the 
high  station  for  which  nature  designed  her;  and, 
happy  in  the  hallowed  affections  of  her  own  bosom, 
unweariedly  exerts  those  powers  so  well  adapted  to 
the  task  of  humanizing  and  blessing  others. 

It  has  been  asserted,  that  slavery  exerts  an  unfor 
tunate  influence  over  the  morals  of  the  people  among 
whom  it  prevails.  This  result  is  produced,  it  is  said, 
by  the  vicious  example  set  by  the  slave-holder  to  his 
child:  but  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  a  mas 
ter  of  slaves  is  more  liable  than  another  to  exhibit 
an  example  dangerous  to  the  morals  of  his  child. 
On  the  contrary,  the  slave-holding  portion  of  our 
citizens  are  known,  by  all  acquainted  with  their 


105 

«••*. 

character,  and  uninfluenced  by  the  calumnies  of  the 
abolitionists,  to  be  as  moderate,  as  refined,  as  moral, 
as  studious  and  scrupulous  in  the  performance  of 
their  duties  as  citizens  and  Christians,  as  the  inha 
bitants  of  any  section  of  our  country,  or  any  other 
country.  Indeed  it  has  been  frequently  remarked, 
that  slavery  tends  to  exalt  and  refine  the  character, 
and  that  the  class  of  our  people  referred  to  are  gene 
rally  more  elevated  in  their  sense  of  duty,  more 
polished,  than  any  other  portion  of  our  population. 
This  fact  has  been  remarked  not  only  by  the  unpre 
judiced  of  our  own  citizens,  but  by  intelligent  and 
candid  foreigners.  The  institution  appears  to  exert  a 
beneficial  influence  on  the  slave  also.  There  is  no 
instance  on  record  of  so  rapid  an  improvement  in  the 
character  of  a  people,  as  has  taken  place  in  the  Afri 
cans  and  their  descendants  in  this  country.  Civili 
zation  and  conversion  to  Christianity  could  not  have 
been  so  rapidly  and  effectually  accomplished  in  any 
other  manner.  The  moral  influence  of  slavery  upon 
those  subject  to  its  obligation,  may  be  perhaps  as 
cribed  to  the  fact,  that  the  slave  has,  in  that  condi 
tion,  nothing  to  tempt  or  urge  him  into  immorality, 
and  every  thing  both  in  hope  and  fear,  to  restrain 
him  from  it.  Mr.  Giles  of  Virginia,  with  that  proud 
exultation  with  which  the  citizens  of  the  Old  Domi 
nion  regard  their  native  state,  said,  that  "  the  whole 
population  of  Virginia,  consisting  of  three  castes,  of 
free  white,  free  coloured,  and  slave-coloured  popu 
lation,  is  the  soundest  and  most  moral  of  any  other, 
according  to  numbers,  in  the  whole  world,  as  far  as 
is  known  to  me."  Mr.  Walsh  also  remarks  on  this 
subject:  "  When  we  investigate  the  dispositions  and 
morals  of  the  European  nations,  it  is  not  with  the 
<  lowest  and  least'  of  them  alone,  but  with  the  high 
est  and  greatest,  that  we  venture  to  compare  the 
white  population  of  our  slave-holding  states," 


106 

The  advocates  of  abolition  refer  with  great  confi 
dence  to  the  danger  which  menaces  the  political 
character  of  our  country  and  people  from  the  influ 
ence  of  slavery.  We  cannot  but  marvel  at  the  pre 
sumption  of  men  who  can  affect  a  regard  for  the 
interests  of  their  country  at  the  moment  they  are 
urging  schemes  which  they  know  must  sunder  the 
bonds  which  knit  it  together,  and  hurl  it  down  from 
the  proud  elevation  which,  as  a  united  confederacy, 
it  has  so  long  occupied.  They  have  urged  abolition 
for  years,  and  continue  to  urge  it.  Do  they  persist 
in  the  hope  that  they  will  persuade  the  slave-holder 
to  relinquish  his  property  ?  On  the  contrary,  they 
have  adopted  a  course  of  abuse  towards  the  southron 
which  they  know  must,  and  which  they  intend 
shall,  irritate  and  madden  him.  They  cherish  no 
object  which  requires  the  assent  of  the  slave-holder; 
they  expect  to  urge  the  north  into  measures  to  coerce 
abolition,  and  failing  in  that,  to  incite  the  negroes 
to  insurrection!  These  are  the  patriots  who  affect 
such  peculiar  concern  for  the  influence  of  slavery 
upon  the  political  interests  of  the  country — men 
who  are  plotting  not  merely  its  political  ruin,  but 
its  desolation  with  fire  and  sword — its  destruction 
with  all  the  horrors  of  a  civil  and  servile  war,  hor 
rors  which  would  make  our  cities  a  solitude,  our 
valleys  deserts,  and  redden  our  rivers  with  the  blood 
of  our  people.  The  political  character  of  the  coun 
try  must  sink  low  indeed  before  it  can  need  such 
protectors. 

Slavery  has  existed  in  this  country,  as  we  have 
seen,  from  its  earliest  settlement.  Where  and  how 
has  it  deteriorated  its  political  character?  Who  were 
they  that  first  denounced  the  oppressions  of  Great 
Britain?  The  slave-holders  of  Virginia.  Who  first 
declared  themselves  independent,  and  dared  the 
hazards  of  a  contest  with  the  colossal  power  of  the 


107 

mother  country?  The  slave-holders  of  North  Caro 
lina.  Who,  when  exempted  from  the  severities  of 
England  and  offered  the  advantages  accruing  from 
the  restrictions  on  New  England  commerce,  rejected 
the  proffered  privilege  with  disdain,  and  preferred 
suffering  with  their  brethren  to  profiting  by  their 
adversity?  The  slave-holders  of  South  Carolina. 
Who,  in  the  hour  of  our  country's  trial,  have  been 
foremost  in  her  defence — who  in  her  councils  have 
displayed  the  most  profound  political  wisdom, 
united  to  the  warmest  and  holiest  patriotism?  The 
slave-holders  Washington  and  Jefferson, Madison  and 
Marshall,  Henry  and  Calhoun,  Clay  and  Jackson, 
and  a  host  whose  illustrious  lives  present  a  noble 
vindication  of  their  country.  What  means  the  con 
stant  iteration  of  these  paltry  charges  against  the 
south?  Has  the  north  a  right  to  decide  that  she  is 
superior  to  her  sister  south,  in  political  virtue:  to  say 
stand  aside ,  for  lam  holier  than  thou?  Is  this  mo 
dest  assumption  of  superior  virtue  creditable  to  her? 
Above  all,  is  it  true?  The  political  history  of  our 
country  responds  emphatically  and  indignantly  in  the 
negative.  In  politics,  if  the  south  has  been  ardent  she 
has  ever  been  honest;  if  she  has  maintained  her  own 
rights  with  intrepidity,  she  has  also  bared  her  breast 
with  eager  and  patriotic  zeal  whenever  the  north 
was  endangered.  It  will  be  conceded  that  in  no 
part  of  the  Union  is  the  same  jealous  devotion 
to  liberty  manifested;  nowhere  do  the  usurpations 
of  power  meet  so  prompt  and  stern  a  rebuke,  the  in 
trigues  of  the  demagogue  so  general  and  contemptu 
ous  an  opposition;  nowhere  are  the  public  men  more 
intrepid,  able  and  independent,  or  the  people  them 
selves  more  intractable  and  proud-spirited  in  the 
consciousness  and  maintenance  of  their  freedom. 
On  this  subject  we  have  the  testimony  of  the  splen 
did  and  philosophical  mind  of  Burke.  The  whole 


108 

passage,  which  we  extract  from  his  speech  on  con 
ciliation  with  America,  is  equally  brilliant  and  sound. 

"  There  is  a  circumstance  attending  the  southern 
American  colonies,  which  makes  the  spirit  of  liberty 
still  more  high  and  haughty  there  than  in  those  to 
the  northward.  It  is  that  in  Virginia  and  the  Caroli- 
nas,  they  have  vast  multitudes  of  slaves.  Where  this 
is  the  case  in  any  part  of  the  world,  those  who  are  free 
are  by  far  the  most  proud  and  jealous  of  their  freedom. 
Freedom  is  to  them  not  only  an  enjoyment,  but  a 
kind  of  rank  and  privilege.  Not  seeing  there  that 
freedom,  as  in  countries  where  it  is  a  common  bless 
ing,  and  as  broad  and  general  as  the  air,  may  be 
united  with  much  abject  toil,  with  great  misery, 
with  all  Ike  exterior  of  servitude,  liberty  looks 
amongst  them  like  something  that  is  more  noble  and 
liberal.  I  do  not  mean  to  commend  the  superior  mo 
rality  of  this  sentiment,  which  has  at  least  as  much 
pride  as  virtue  in  it;  but  I  cannot  alter  the  nature 
of  man.  The  fact  is  so:  and  these  people  of  the 
southern  colonies  are  much  more  strongly,  and 
with  a  higher  and  more  stubborn  spirit, 'attached 
to  liberty  than  those  of  the  northward.  Such 
were  all  the  ancient  commonwealths;  such  were  our 
Gothic  ancestors;  such,  in  our  days,  were  the  Poles; 
and  such  will  be  all  masters  of  slaves  who  are 
not  slaves  themselves.  In  such  a  people  the  haughti 
ness  of  domination  combines  with  the  spirit  of  free 
dom,  fortifies  it,  and  renders  it  invincible." 

To  him  who  contemplates  the  "high  and  haughty" 
virtues  of  the  south,  and  then  recurs  to  the  treachery 
and  tergiversation,  the  degrading  appeals  to  popular 
errors,  the  corrupt  arts  of  electioneering,  the  ser 
vility  and  indifference  to  principle,  and  the  universal 
and  ravenous  appetite  for  office,  exhibited  in  the 
politics  of  the  north — we  say,  that  to  him  who  con 
templates  the  contrast  thus  presented,  the  objections 


109 

made  to  slavery  on  account  of  its  influence  in  pro 
ducing  political  degeneracy,  appear  too  absurd  for 
serious  refutation. 

In  the  republics  of  Greece  and  Rome,  when  the 
spirit  of  freedom  was  cherished  with  the  sternest 
devotion,  when  their  people  were,  in  its  defence, 
performing  deeds  which  have  made  their  names  the 
synonymes  of  all  that  is  noble  and  illustrious,  slavery 
prevailed  to  such  an  extent  that  the  bond  doubled 
the  number  of  the  free.  So  far  were  the  sages  or 
patriots  of  those  countries  from  regarding  it  as  an 
evil,  that  they  considered  it  essential  for  the  preser 
vation  of  an  elevated  national  character.  Aristotle 
and  the  philosophers  of  old,  deemed  slavery  neces 
sary  to  maintain  the  spirit  of  freedom.  In  Sparta, 
so  strong  was  their  conviction  of  the  necessity  of 
slavery  to  encourage  a  free  and  independent  spirit 
in  their  citizens,  that  it  was  made  penal  for  a  free 
man  to  perform  the  offices  of  a  slave.  Ferguson,  in 
his  essay  on  the  history  of  civil  society,  says:  "  We 
feel  the  injustice  of  the  institution  of  slavery  at 
Sparta.  We  suffer  for  the  Helot:  but  we  think  only 
of  the  superior  order  of  men  in  this  state,  when  we 
attend  to  that  elevation  and  magnanimity  of  spirit 
for  which  danger  had  no  terror,  interest  no  means 
to  corrupt:  when  we  consider  them  as  friends  or  as 
citizens,  we  are  apt  to  forget,  like  themselves,  that 
slaves  have  a  title  to  be  treated  like  men." 

It  will  be  admitted,  that  one  of  the  first  and  most 
essential  requisites  in  the  formation  of  republican 
character  is  intelligence.  Without  that,  patriotism 
is  blind  and  inefficient.  Without  it,  a  virtuous  peo 
ple  may  be  readily  deceived  and  betrayed,  and  lose 
their  freedom  before  they  dream  that  it  is  in  peril. 
The  slave-holder  has,  in  this  particular,  the  inestima 
ble  advantage  of  leisure.  Relieved  from  the  labour 
required  for  actual  support,  he  is  enabled  to  direct 
10 


110 

his  attention  to  public  affairs;  to  investigate  political 
subjects,  and  exercise  his  privileges  understandingly. 
This  result  has  been  fully  attained  at  the  south.  In 
no  population  in  the  world  is  the  same  time  devoted 
to  political  investigations;  and  nowhere  are  the  rights 
of  man  so  fully  canvassed  and  understood  by  the 
mass  of  the  citizens. 

While  we  acknowledge  that  some  of  the  noblest 
spirits  which  our  race  has  boasted  have  been  linked, 
through  life,  with  poverty,  and  while  we  are  proud 
to  be  enabled  to  boast  that  in  no  country  are  the 
poor  more  pure  and  virtuous  than  in  our  own,  yet 
we  must  also  admit  that  poverty  has  its  temptations. 
Men  who  enter  into  politics,  as  do  many  in  the  north, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  money,  are  but  danger 
ous  agents.  The  public  council,  which  is  constituted 
of  men  who  from  situation  and  character  are  acces 
sible  to  pecuniary  temptation,  is  but  a  frail  barrier 
against  the  designs  of  the  ambitious.  In  most  cases 
it  becomes  not  merely  treacherous  in  its  inactivity, 
but  active  in  its  treason — the  pliant  and  efficient  en 
gine  of  power.  The  institution  of  slavery,  by  form 
ing  the  character  of  the  citizen  on  a  more  elevated 
standard,  by  lifting  him  above  the  necessities  and 
temptations  of  poverty,  secures,  to  the  councils  of 
the  country,  men  for  whom,  to  repeat  the  words  of 
Ferguson,  "  danger  has  no  terror,  interest  no  means 
to  corrupt." 

There  is  one  result  which  has  been  accomplished 
by  slavery,  and  which  no  other  cause  has  hitherto 
completely  effected — it  has  introduced  a  complete 
equality  among  the  whites.  Professor  Dew  thus 
describes  the  difference  which  prevails  in  the  north 
and  south  in  this  particular.  "  The  menial  and  low 
offices  being  all  performed  by  the  blacks,  there  is  at 
once  taken  away  the  greatest  cause  of  distinction 
and  separation  of  the  ranks  of  society.  The  man 


Ill 

at  the  north  will  not  shake  hands  familiarly  with 
his  servant,  arid  converse  and  laugh,  and  dine  with 
him,  no  matter  how  honest  and  respectable  he  may 
be.  But  go  to  the  south,  and  you  will  find  that  no 
white  man  feels  such  inferiority  of  rank  as  to  be 
unworthy  of  association  with  those  around  him. 
Colour  alone  is  here  the  badge  of  distinction,  the 
true  mark  of  aristocracy,  and  all  who  are  white  are 
equal  in  spite  of  variety  of  occupation."  That  this 
equality  upon  the  part  of  the  whites  is  occasioned 
by  the  presence  of  slavery  is  demonstrated  by  the 
fact,  that  it  exists  also  in  the  West  Indies,  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  following  passage  from  Bryan  Edward's 
History  of  these  Islands.  "  Of  the  character,"  says 
this  author,  "  common  to  the  white  residents  of  the 
West  Indies,  it  appears  to  me,  that  the  leading  fea 
ture  is  an  independent  spirit,  and  a  display  of  con 
scious  equality,  throughout  all  ranks  and  conditions. 
The  poorest  white  person  seems  to  consider  himself 
nearly  on  a  level  with  the  richest,  and,  emboldened 
by  this  idea,  approaches  his  employer  with  extended 
hand,  and  a  freedom  which,  in  the  countries  of  Eu 
rope,  is  seldom  displayed  by  men  in  the  lower  orders 
of  life  towards  their  superiors.  It  is  not  difficult  to 
trace  the  origin  of  this  principle.  It  arises,  without 
doubt,  from  the  pre-eminence  and  distinction  which 
are  necessarily  attached  even  to  the  complexion  of 
a  white  man  in  a  country  where  the  complexion, 
generally  speaking,  distinguishes  freedom  from 
slavery." 

No  one  who  has  resided  at  the  north  will  be  will 
ing  to  deny  the  alleged  inequality  in  the  rank  of  our 
citizens.  It  must  be  acknowledged  that  there  has 
sprung  up  amongst  us  that  most  odious  of  all  species 
of  aristocracy — the  aristocracy  of  gold.  Wealth  has 
already  attained  a  power  which,  it  must  be  admitted, 
elevates  it  to  a  rank  unapproachable  to  the  poor. 


Already  have  we  the  upper,  middle,  and  lower 
ranks  of  society:  and  no  one  will  presume  to  assert 
that  any  personal  merit  will  entitle  the  unfortunate 
member  of  the  lower  caste,  to  mingle  with  the 
higher.  It  is  the  inevitable  consequence  of  the 
revolution  which  divides  society  into  ranks,  that 
while  one  rises  the  other  sinks.  This  has  been  the 
case  at  the  north;  and  while  the  wealthy  have  at 
tained  rank  and  power,  the  poor  have  lost  both. 
True,  they  still  possess  the  elective  franchise;  but 
even  in  the  exercise  of  this  they  are  driven  in  heady 
and  unreflecting  masses  by  demagogues,  or  swayed 
by  rich  patrons  and  employers.  Any  one  conver 
sant  with  the  influence  attained  by  those  whose  capi 
tal  places  them  at  the  head  of  large  numbers,  will 
admit,  that  whatever  may  be  the  cant  of  the  poli 
ticians  of  the  day,  the  irresistible  force  of  circum 
stances  has  destroyed  for  ever  the  boasted  equality 
of  the  people.  The  climate  of  our  northern  lati 
tude,  and  the  pursuits  of  our  people,  have  prevented 
the  introduction  of  slaves  into  the  north,  and  we 
rejoice  that  it  is  so:  but  had  the  lower  offices  of 
labour  been  performed  by  servile  hands,  we  would 
not  find  the  poor  of  our  section  of  the  Union  occu 
pying  their  present  position. 

The  slavery  of  the  southern  states  of  this  Union 
is,  in  some  of  its  features,  peculiar,  and  is  not  liable 
to  many  of  the  objections  alleged  against  slavery  in 
general.  One  of  these  peculiarities  is  the  complex 
ion  of  the  slave. 

We  are  aware  that  the  colour  of  the  slave  is  made 
the  constant  theme  of  artful  declamation  by  the 
abolitionists.  The  negroes  are  said  to  be  punished 
for  the  hue  of  their  skin;  and  the  right  to  hold  the 
slave  is  made  to  arise  from  that  peculiarity.  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  these  representations, 
like  most  others  from  the  same  source,  are  wilfully 


113 

false,  and  are  intended  only  to  excite  the  slave  to 
violence  and  revenge.  But  since  they  refer  thus 
triumphantly  to  the  colour  of  the  slave,  we  may  re 
mark,  that  it  does  constitute,  among  the  numerous 
and  overwhelming  considerations  which  constrain 
the  slave-holder  to  reject  the  mad  projects  of  the 
abolitionists,  an  argument  "  of  great  pith  and  mo 
ment." 

In  most  countries  in  which  slavery  has  prevailed, 
the  slave  has  been  of  the  same  race,  form,  and  com 
plexion  as  his  master;  and  was  frequently  not  only 
his  equal  but  superior  in  mental  and  personal  accom 
plishments.  These  facts  could  not  but  impart  to  the 
aspect  of  slavery  an  expression  of  peculiar  severity 
and  injustice,  and  excite  in  the  bosom  of  the  slave 
a  sense  of  wrong,  and  a  desire  for  redress.  Here  no 
such  jealousy  exists.  The  slave  sees  himself  "quoted 
and  marked"  as  a  different,  perhaps  an  inferior  race, 
of  the  human  species;  and  never,  unless  under  the 
benign  influence  of  the  abolition  mischief-makers, 
regards  the  superiority  of  his  master  with  envy  or 
ill  will.  Among  the  ancients,  the  act  of  manumis 
sion  annihilated  all  distinction  between  the  master 
and  the  slave,  or  between  the  latter  and  the  mass  of 
society.  He  merged  with  the  body  of  the  popula 
tion,  and  was  marked  by  no  peculiarity  to  distin 
guish  or  separate  him  from  others,  and  to  render 
him,  in  the  midst  of  the  population,  an  exile  and  an 
outcast.  Here,  on  the  contrary,  the  colour  of  the 
slave  is  the  badge  of  his  condition;  and  does  much 
to  make  him  regard  it  as  his  destiny.  Even  manu 
mission  cannot  materially  change  his  lot — cannot 
give  him  the  privileges  of  the  whites — lift  him  to 
the  rank  of  a  freeman,  or  wipe  away  the  colour 
which  separates  him  from  the  mass  of  our  people, 
and  dooms  him  to  inevitable  and  perpetual  infe 
riority.  In  the  countries  referred  to,  the 
10* 


114 

cence  of  the  slave  often  comprised  a  record  of  for 
mer  opulence,  power,  and  pride,  from  which  the 
fortunes  of  war  or  the  tyranny  of  power  had  torn 
him,  to  consign  him  to  the  most  abject  and  cruel 
slavery.  With  our  negro  the  past  is  either  a  blank 
or  a  record  of  wretchedness.  His  nation  is  a  peo 
ple  of  slaves:  all  of  his  colour  were,  in  their  pro 
genitors  or  themselves,  bondmen.  His  country, 
instead  of  being  an  object  of  desire  and  regret,  is  a 
terror;  and  nothing  can  appal  him  more  than  the 
prospect  of  returning  to  it.  His  present  condition, 
so  far  from  being  a  lapse  or  fall  from  former  happi 
ness,  is  superior  to  any  lot  which  his  ancestors  or 
himself  had  dared  to  hope.  The  abolitionists  sym 
pathise  profoundly  with  the  degradation  of  the  negro. 
Their  sympathies  are  wasted.  He  knows  no  degra 
dation.  His  situation  is  now  as  proud  as  it  has  ever 
been;  and  his  ambition,  unless  perverted  by  the  abo 
litionists,  seeks  no  higher  distinction,  and  can  know 
no  greater  pride,  than  the  praise  of  his  master  for 
superior  morality,  diligence,  and  good  conduct.  Such 
is  the  slavery  of  the  negro;  and  his  complexion,  not 
withstanding  the  poetic  appeals  of  the  enthusiasts, 
has  a  great  and  beneficial  influence  in  rendering  him 
humble  and  content  with  the  situation  in  which 
Providence  has  placed  him. 

We  consider  it  impossible  for  any  candid  mind 
acquainted  with  the  subject,  to  doubt  that  slavery  is 
indispensable  to  the  South;  that  it  is  the  source  of 
its  wealth,  influence,  power,  and  prosperity;  and 
that  its  abolition  would  make  the  southern  states  a 
desert.  That  such  is  and  has  long  been  the  opinion 
of  the  intelligent  citizens  of  the  South,  no  one  will 
deny.  The  following  paragraph  is  copied  from  the 
66  Charleston  Courier,"  and  was  published  some 
years  ago.  It  must  be  remembered,  that  the  "  Cou 
rier  is  an  Union  print,  and  is  distinguished  for  its 


115 

zeal  and  ability   in  opposing  the  ruling  party  in 
South  Carolina. 

"  We  must  be  permitted,  however,  to  say  to  the 
Boston  editor,  that  he  is  utterly  mistaken  in  suppos 
ing  that  the  people  of  the  South  regard  domestic 
slavery,  as  it  exists  among  them3  in  the  light  of  a 
curse;  on  the  contrary,  they  hold  it  to  be  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  proper  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and 
to  be  the  great  source  of  their  prosperity,  wealth, 
and  happiness;  without  it  their  fertile  fields  would 
become  a  wilderness  and  a  desert, — their  real  curse 
not  being  slavery,  but  a  climate,  which,  although 
congenial  to  the  constitution  of  the  negro,  would 
mow  down  the  whites  with  the  scythe  of  destruc 
tion.  Nor  do  the  people  of  the  South  deem  slavery 
4  a  curse'  to  the  negroes  themselves — it  exists  with 
us  in  a  mild  parental  form — the  relation  between 
master  and  slave  being  cemented  as  well  by  affec 
tion  as  interest — and  the  slaves  of  the  South  are  be 
lieved,  and,  we  may  indeed  say,  known  to  be,  a 
better  and  a  happier  race  than  the  idle  and  vagabond 
free  coloured  population  of  the  North,  the  worn  out 
and  half-starved  manufacturers  of  England,  and  the 
labouring  classes  in  most  other  countries." 

The  soil  and  productions,  but  more  particularly 
the  climate  of  the  South,  preclude  the  possibility 
of  the  successful  employment  of  white  labourers 
there.  Severe  physical  toil  in  the  South  has  always 
proved  fatal  to  the  white  man;  to  the  negro,  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  attended  with  neither  danger  nor  in 
convenience.  The  torrid  sun  has  no  terrors  for  him; 
and  the  hot  breath  of  the  South,  before  which  the 
white  labourer  faints  and  perishes,  is  found  to  be 
accordant  with  the  constitution  and  nature  of  the 
black.  It  was  the  impracticability  of  employing 
white  labour,  that  induced  the  original  introduc 
tion  of  slavery,  and  that  has  continued  and  will 


117 

continue  it.  Of  the  unfitness  of  the  white  man  for 
continued  exposure  and  labour  in  the  South,  there 
is,  with  those  acquainted  with  the  facts,  no  doubt. 
If  there  were,  to  banish  them  it  would  be  sufficient 
to  mention  that  white  labour  never  there  has  been 
successfully  employed;  that  when  tried  it  has  been 
found  to  result  in  the  extended  destruction  of  life; 
and  that,  with  all  the  characteristic  enterprise  and 
hardihood  of  our  countrymen,  and  with  the  unri 
valled  advantages  of  the  South  to  the  agriculturist 
— the  entire  South  is  still  cultivated  by  blacks.  On 
this  subject,  an  intelligent  journalist  of  a  northern 
city,  (M.  M.  Noah,  Esq.)  says — 

"  Setting  aside  all  that  has  been  said  in  favour  of 
the  position,  that  slavery  is  a  natural  condition  of 
the  negro,  which  must  of  necessity  exist  as  a  natu 
ral  consequence  of  the  imperfect  organization  of  the 
negro,  we  now  come  to  the  question  whether  it  is 
not  absolutely  necessary  as  a  component  element  in 
the  structure  of  society  in  this  country.  Whatever 
might  have  been  the  result  of  a  dense  population  in 
the  southern  states,  exclusively  composed  of  whites, 
we  would  now  put  the  question  whether  it  would 
have  been  possible  to  have  cultivated  the  soil  of  the 
southern  states,  possessing  the  peculiarities  of  cli 
mate  which  they  do,  without  the  aid  of  a  negro 
population?  Whether  the  staple  commodities  of 
cotton,  tobacco,  rice,  &c.,  which  are  the  growth  of 
that  peculiar  climate  and  soil,  could  have  ever  been 
brought  to  the  successful  cultivation  that  they  have 
been  without  slave  labour?  Is  it  not  clear  that  these 
rich  staples  to  which  we  of  the  North,  as  well  as  of 
the  South,  owe  all  the  wealth,  prosperity  and  great 
ness  of  our  country,  would  have  been  a  dead  letter 
without  the  aid  of  slave  labour?  Is  it  not  certain 
that,  without  this  dispensation  in  our  behalf,  the 
whole  South  would  have  been  an  entire  swamp  and 


117 

morass  of  stagnant  pools  and  weeds,  and  overgrown 
forests?  We  think  this  undeniable.  And  who  are 
those  that  have  been  most  benefitted  and  most  en 
riched  by  this  state  of  things?  The  North  and  her 
enterprising  citizens,  who  have  been  the  active 
traders  that  have  brought  this  wealth  into  the  mar 
ket,  and  who,  for  want  of  any  peculiar  staples  them 
selves,  have  become  the  factors  and  merchants,  and 
ship-builders  and  manufacturers,  by  which  the  great 
southern  staple  of  cotton  has  been  consumed  and 
turned  into  a  most  profitable  source  of  wealth.  The 
North,  therefore,  in  countenancing  any  interference 
with  the  slave  property  of  the  South,  or  in  endea 
vouring  by  emancipation,  abolition,  or  otherwise, 
to  weaken  the  relation  existing  between  master  and 
slave,  is  stabbing  her  own  vital  interests  to  the 
heart." 

Even  those  who  advocate  abolition  do  not  deny 
the  necessity  of  retaining  the  labour  of  the  blacks. 
They  admit  that  the  climate  of  the  South  is  fatal  to 
the  labouring  white  man,  and  acknowledge,  to  the 
fullest  extent,  the  desolating  consequences  of  a  re 
mission  of  negro  labour  in  that  section  of  the  repub 
lic.  Drs.  Reed  and  Matheson,  delegates  from  the 
congregational  union  of  England  and  Wales,  to  the 
American  churches,  have  since  their  return  pub 
lished  two  volumes  of  letters,  in  which  the  subject 
of  slavery  is  handled  with  all  the  presumptuous 
boldness  of  ignorance,  and  many  abolition  slanders 
repeated  with  confident  assurances  of  their  veracity. 
It  is  unnecessary  here  to  speak  of  the  conduct  of 
these  gentlemen,  who  visit  the  country  on  a  mission 
of  piety,  and  after  having  received  the  most  fraternal 
and  affectionate  attention,  return  to  calumniate  us. 
We  refer  to  the  work  to  quote  the  following  im 
portant  admissions.  "  To  transport  all  the  slaves  to 
a  foreign  shore  would  inflict  on  America  herself  a 


118 

most  deadly  wound.  She  wants  the  coloured  peo 
ple;  she  cannot  doivithout  them"  Again.  "  If the 
Africans  were  removed  to-morrow  ONE  HALF  OP 
HER  TERRITORIES  WOULD  BE  A  MERE  DESOLA 
TION!"  Such  is  the  language  even  of  abolitionists. 
The  following  description  of  the  details  of  slave 
labour  in  Louisiana  is  interesting  and  important. 
We  extract  them  from  Flint's  History  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  Valley."  «  In  all  the  better  managed  plan 
tations,  the  mode  of  building  the  quarters  is  fixed. 
The  arrangement  of  the  little  village  has  a  fashion, 
by  which  it  is  settled.  Interest,  if  not  humanity, 
has  defined  the  amount  of  food  and  rest  necessary 
for  their  health:  there  is  on  a  large  and  respectable 
plantation  as  much  precision  in  the  rules,  as  much 
exactness  in  the  times  of  going  to  sleep,  awakening, 
going  to  labour,  and  resting  before  and  after  meals,  as 
in  a  garrison  under  military  discipline,  or  in  a  ship  of 
war.  A  bell  gives  all  the  signals.  Every  slave  at 
the  assigned  hour  in  the  morning  is  forthcoming  to 
his  labour,  or  his  case  is  reported,  either  as  one  of 
idleness,  obstinacy,  or  sickness,  in  which  case  he  is 
sent  to  the  hospital,  and  there  he  is  attended  by  a 
physician,  who,  for  the  most  part,  has  a  yearly  salary 
for  attending  all  the  sick  of  the  plantation.  The 
union  of  physical  force,  directed  by  one  will,  is  now 
well  understood  to  have  a  much  greater  effect  upon 
the  amount  of  labour  which  a  number  of  hands  so 
managed  can  bring  about,  than  the  same  force  di 
rected  by  as  many  wills  as  there  are  hands.  Hence 
it  happens,  that  while  one  free  man,  circumstances 
being  the  same,  will  perform  more  labour  than  one 
slave,  one  hundred  slaves  will  accomplish  more  on 
one  plantation,  than  so  many  hired  free  men  acting 
at  their  own  discretion.  Hence,  too,  it  is  that  such 
a  prodigious  quantity  of  cotton  and  sugar  is  made 
here  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  labouring  hands. 


119 

All  the  process  of  agriculture  is  managed  by  sys 
tem.  Every  thing  goes  strait  forward.  There  is 
no  pulling  down  to-day  the  scheme  of  yesterday, 
and  the  whole  amount  of  force  is  directed,  by  the 
teaching  of  experience,  to  the  best  result." 

It  would  be  well  for  those  who  assert  the  supe 
riority  of  free  labour,  to  explain  the  causes  of  its 
want  of  success.  If  free  labour  be  more  profitable, 
why  is  it  not  introduced  at  the  South?  Of  the  mil 
lions  who  pour  from  the  Atlantic  board  into  the 
West,  why  are  there  none  to  try  their  system  of 
labour  in  the  slave  states?  And  the  southern  planters 
themselves,  why  do  they  not  seize  this  method  of  in 
creasing  their  profits?  With  all  the  shrewdness  and 
enterprise  of  the  American  character,  how  is  it  that 
this  source  of  wealth  has  been  undiscovered  and  un 
disturbed?  It  is  a  marvel  which  those  who  underrate 
slave  labour  cannot  explain.  The  spirit  of  our  coun 
try  would  long  since  have  reformed  such  an  evil 
had  it  been  an  evil — would  long  since  have  resorted 
to  free  labour,  had  free  labour  been  able  to  compete 
with  the  labour  of  slaves.  The  conclusion  is  irre 
sistible,  that  the  present  mode  of  cultivating  the 
South  is  more  profitable  than  any  scheme  which 
the  northern  abolitionists  can  devise,  or  such  schemes 
would  have  been  heretofore  adopted;  and  that  any 
change  in  the  domestic  institutions  of  the  South 
would  be  disastrous  to  her  and  to  the  North. 

It  will  be  freely  admitted,  that  in  the  North, 
among  free  and  intelligent  whites,  free  labour  is 
infinitely  more  profitable  than  the  labour  of  slaves 
could  there  be.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  slavery 
would  now  be  as  prevalent  there  as  at  the  South. 
But  it  is  vain  and  idle  to  pretend,  that  in  a  hot  and 
sultry  climate,  wrhere  every  thing  invites  even  the 
more  diligent  white  to  indolence,  that  the  slothful 
negro  would  labour  without  compulsion.  In  no 


120 

southern  country  that  we  are  acquainted  with,  is 
free  labour  found  to  be  so  profitable  as  that  which 
is  urged  by  coercion.  The  labour  of  Spain  and 
Italy  is  decidedly  inferior  to  that  of  our  southern 
states.  But  if  this  be  true  of  white  labourers  be- 
jieath  a  southern  sun,  it  is  peculiarly  so  of  the  blacks. 
We  have  no  instance  of  profitable  free  labour  among 
the  free  blacks.  St.  Domingo,  once  the  greatest 
sugar  growing  island  in  the  world,  is  now  almost  a 
wilderness.  Mr.  Franklin,  in  his  "  Present  State 
of  Hayti,"  gives  the  following  account  of  the  con 
sequences  of  free  labour  in  that  island.  "  I  cannot 
avoid  repeating  that  Hayti  must  not  be  held  up  as 
an  example  of  what  can  be  accomplished  by  free 
labour;  but  that  it  ought  rather  to  be  the  beacon  to 
warn  the  government  of  England  against  an  experi 
ment  which  may  prove  absolutely  fatal  to  her  colo 
nial  system.  If  it  be  not  wished  that  a  fate  similar 
to  that  which  has  befallen  Hayti  should  overtake 
our  colonies,  that  they  should  be  rendered  wholly 
unproductive  to  the  revenue  of  the  country,  and 
that  the  property  invested  in  them  should  be  pre 
served  from  destruction,  the  advisers  of  the  crown 
must  pause  before  they  listen  to  the  ill-judged  sug 
gestions  of  enthusiasts;  for  they  must  banish  from 
their  minds  the  idea  that  the  work  of  cultivation 
can  be  made  productive  by  means  of  free  labour. 
Such  a  thing  appears  to  me  impossible.  The  negro, 
constituted  as  he  is,  has  such  an  aversion  to  labour, 
and  so  great  a  propensity  for  indulgence  and  vice, 
that  no  prospect  of  advantage  can  stimulate  him; 
and  as  for  emulation  it  has  not  the  slightest  influence 
over  him.  Without  force  he  will  sink  into  lethargy, 
and  revert  to  his  primitive  savage  character,  and  the 
only  feasible  and  effectual  plan  to  promote  his  civi 
lization  is  to  persist  in  those  measures  which  com 
pel  him  to  labour,  inculcate  morality,  and  tend  to 


121 

extirpate  those  vices  which  are  inherent  in  the  de 
scendants  of  the  African  race."  Of  the  success  of 
fche  Haytien  experiment  it  may  become  necessary 
to  treat  more  fully  hereafter.  St.  Domingo,  how 
ever,  is  not  the  only  example  of  the  settled  and  in 
vincible  aversion  of  the  negro  in  warm  latitudes 
to  labour.  In  the  English  West  Indies  the  most 
rigid  police  system  is,  even  in  their  present  state  of 
apprenticeship,  insufficient  to  constrain  them  to  the 
same  amount  of  labour  as  formerly;  and  at  our  own 
colony  of  Liberia,  the  population  of  which  has  been 
selected  with  care,  it  has  always  been  found  impos 
sible  to  induce  the  settlers  to  engage  in  agricultural, 
or  any  permanent  and  regular  labour. 

Of  the  general  productiveness  of  slave-labour  there 
are  innumerable  examples.  The  ancient  nations  of 
the  East  owed  their  unbounded  wealth  to  slave-la 
bour.  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Rome,  all  densely  popu 
lated,  boundless  in  affluence  and  power,  were  slave- 
holding  nations,  and  owed  their  prosperity  to  slave 
labour.  In  our  own  times,  the  wealth  of  the  West 
India  colonies,  of  Brazil,  of  our  own  southern  coun 
try,  particularly  the  south-western  states,  illustrates 
the  productiveness  of  slave-labour.  It  is  true  that  a 
portion  of  the  South  has  not  advanced  recently  as  ra 
pidly  as  many  sections  of  the  North  and  West.  On 
examination,  however,  it  will  be  found  that  those  states 
were,  up  to  the  period  of  the  protective  policy,  more 
prosperous  than  their  sisters;  and  though  that  policy, 
joined  with  southern  extravagance,  the  amount  of 
labour  lost  in  the  sickly  season,  the  loss  by  emigra 
tion  to  the  West,  and  the  emoluments  of  her  factor, 
the  shrewder  and  more  shifting  North,  has  retarded 
her  onward  progress,  we  believe  that  the  South  is 
destined  to  rival,  perhaps  outstrip,  her  most  fortu 
nate  sisters  in  wealth  and  prosperity.  If  the  abo 
litionists  do  not  dissolve  the  bonds  of  our  union,  the 
11 


122 

North  will  continue  to  thrive  on  the  fatness  of  the 
South;  and  all  the  members  of  our  national  family, 
not  only  united  by  the  recollections  of  the  past  and 
the  hopes  of  the  future,  by  our  common  interest 
in  the  heritage  of  freedom  and  glory  left  by  our  an 
cestors,  but  knit  together  in  an  intercourse  of  mu 
tual  benefits — will  advance  hand  in  hand  to  affluence 
and  power.  Should,  however,  the  blows  which 
have  already  been  given,  and  are  daily  redoubled, 
succeed  in  severing  the  links  that  bind  us  together, 
the  evil  will  be  upon  the  North.  Those  who  are 
tugging  at  the  pillars  of  the  temple  of  Union  will, 
Sampson-like,  be  buried  in  its  ruins — the  South 
will  remain  unharmed.  United  and  tranquil,  with 
her  slave-labour,  and  its  golden  produce  the  rich 
staples  cotton,  sugar,  tobacco,  rice,  &c.,  with  a  com 
merce  of  her  own  untaxed  and  richly  sustained  by 
her  immense  exports,  she  would  (were  her  sons 
true — and  when  have  they  proved  recreant?)  hold 
undisturbed  her  onward  course  to  power  and  afflu 
ence.  She  may  wax  poor,  but  slavery  will  never 
impoverish  her;  her  fertile  valleys  may  be  bathed  in 
blood,  but,  unless  northern  philanthropy  excites  it, 
it  will  not  be  shed  by  the  hands  of  her  slaves;  she 
may  become  shrunken  in  spirit  and  power,  craven 
and  degenerate,  and  fall  from  her  present  high  es 
tate,  but  the  philosophic  historian  will  never  ascribe 
her  downfall  to  the  institution  of  slavery.  Her  in 
stitutions  are  such  as  have  grown  out  of  her  wants, 
such  as  suit  her  situation;  they  have  promoted  her 
prosperity  and  will  insure  its  continuance.  If  un 
molested,  she  will  remain  tranquil,  prosperous,  and 
happy;  if  disturbed,  she  may  lose  her  tranquillity, 
but  is  fully  capable  of  maintaining  her  own  safety, 
and  promoting  her  own  welfare.  Her  course  is  on 
ward;  and  the  raving  of  the  fanatics  will  not  check 
nor  turn  her  aside. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


Schemes  for  the  removal  of  Slavery — Coloniza 
tion  and  Abolition— History  of  Colonization 
— Statement  of  its  friends,  of  its  opponents,  $c. 

As  the  introduction  of  slavery  into  this  country 
was  originally  opposed,  its  continuance  has  also  been 
deplored,  by  many  of  our  citizens.     At  the  North, 
where  there  was  no  inducement  to  continue  to  hold 
their  slaves  in  bondage,  they  were  gradually  eman 
cipated.  In  the  South,  where  the  number  of  the  slaves 
was  so  great  as  to  render  abolition  impracticable, 
other  schemes  have  been  suggested.     Many  differ 
ent  plans  have,  at  different  times,  been  proposed ;  and 
those  who,  not  having  properly  considered  the  sub 
ject,  regard  negro  slavery  as  an  evil,  have  encour 
aged  and  sustained  them.  Some  have  even  urged  the 
expediency  of  confining  the  slaves,  and  compelling 
them  to  labour,  the  sexes  being  separated,  in  Ergas- 
tula,  until  the  race  may  thus  be  extinguished;  others 
have  recommended  that  they  be  conveyed  to  some 
distant  point  in  our  own  territory,  and  established 
as  a  separate  community.     It  would,  however,  be 
useless  and  tiresome  to  revive  the  bubbles  that  have 
been,  at  different  times,  raised  to  burst  beneath  the 
first  touch  of  investigation.     Of  the  countless  plans 
suggested  by  the  quacks  who,  having  conjectured 
that  slavery  was  an  evil,  have  also  conjectured  a 
cure,  the  only  ones  which  have  survived,  are  colo 
nization  on  the  western   coast  of  Africa,  and  thej 


124 

immediate  or  gradual  abolition  of  slavery  without 
expatriation. 

The  scheme  of  colonization  was  conceived  at  an 
early  period,  and  appears  to  have  been  regarded 
with  favour  by  some  of  the  greatest  minds  our  coun 
try  has  produced.  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  early  as  1777, 
is  said  to  have  suggested  colonization.  In  1801  the 
legislature  of  Virginia,  a  state  that  appears  to  have 
been  always  restive  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  re 
commended  colonization.  In  181 G  the  same  body 
passed  the  following  resolutions: — • 

"  Whereas,  the  general  assembly  of  Virginia  have 
repeatedly  sought  to  obtain  an  asylum  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  United  States  for  such  persons  of  co 
lour  as  had  been  or  might  be  emancipated  under 
the  laws  of  this  commonwealth,  but  have  hitherto 
found  all  their  efforts  frustrated,  either  by  the  dis 
turbed  state  of  other  nations,  or  domestic  causes 
equally  unpropitious  to  success. 

"  They  now  avail  themselves  of  a  period  when 
peace  has  healed  the  wounds  of  humanity,  and  the 
principal  nations  of  Europe  have  concurred  with 
the  government  of  the  United  States  in  abolishing 
the  African  slave  trade  (a  traffic  which  this  com 
monwealth,  both  before  and  since  the  revolution, 
zealously  sought  to  exterminate,)  to  renew  this 
effort,  and  do  therefore 

"  Resolve,  That  the  executive  be  requested  to 
correspond  with  the  president  of  the  United  States, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  territory  on  the  west 
ern  coast  of  Africa,  or  at  some  other  place  not  within 
any  of  the  states  or  territorial  governments  of  the 
United  States,  to  serve  as  an  asylum  for  such  per 
sons  of  colour  as  are  now  free  and  may  desire  the 
same,  and  for  those  who  may  hereafter  be  emanci 
pated  within  this  commonwealth;  and  that  the  sena 
tors  and  representatives  of  this  state  in  the  congress 


125 

of  the  United  States  be  requested  to  use  their  best 
efforts  to  aid  the  president  of  the  United  States  in 
the  attainment  of  the  above  objects. 

"  Provided,  That  no  contract  or  arrangement  re 
specting  such  territory  shall  be  obligatory  on  this 
commonwealth,  until  ratified  by  the  legislature." 

In  December,  1816,  the  American  Colonization 
Society  was  organized  at  Washington  under  the 
auspices  of  Dr.  Finley  of  New  Jersey,  Hon.  C.  F. 
Mercer,  F.  S.  Key,  and  some  others.  Measures 
were  taken  as  early  as  possible  to  select  a  site  for 
the  proposed  colony.  In  1818,  Messrs.  Mill  and 
Burgess  visited  Africa  by  the  way  of  England,  and 
gained  much  important  information.  In  1820,  the 
first  expedition  sailed,  and  attempted  to  make  a 
settlement  on  the  Island  of  Sherbo.  The  climate 
proved  fatal  to  the  settlers,  and  the  effort  failed.  In 
1821  another  expedition  sailed,  and  the  colonists 
remained  at  Sierra  Leone  until  a  settlement  could 
be  made.  In  1821,  Dr.  Eli  Ayres,  with  Captain 
Stockton  of  the  U.  S.  navy,  purchased  from  the 
natives  the  territory  called  Montserado  in  the  name 
of  the  Society.  In  1822,  a  settlement  was  effected, 
and  the  colony  placed  under  the  government  of  Mr. 
Ashmun,  as  agent  of  the  Society.  The  first  year 
of  the  settlement  was  marked  by  many  disasters. 
The  natives  assailed  the  colony  in  great  force,  but 
were  repelled  with  intrepidity  and  success.  In  1824 
a  form  of  government  was  adopted  by  the  colonists. 
The  board  of  managers  of  the  Society  appoint  the 
colonial  agent,  who  is  a  white  man:  all  the  other 
officers  are  men  of  colour,  the  most  important  of 
which  are  elected  annually.  Mr.  Ashmun  continued 
to  preside  over  the  colony  until  1828,  when  he  was 
constrained  by  illness,  which  soon  proved  fatal,  to 
return  to  America.  He  was  succeeded  by  Dr. 


126 

Richard  Randall,  who  shortly  after  died,  when  Dr. 
Mechlin  became  agent.* 

*  The  following  account  of  the  colony  is  extracted  from 
an  address  published  by  the  Board  in  1832. 

'*  Description  of  the  Colony. — The  name  of  Liberia  has  been 
given  to  the  colony,  because  it  is  the  land  of  the  freed.  Cape 
Montserado,  on  which  stands  the  principal  town  (Monrovia, 
so  called,  in  honour  of  President  Monroe,)  lies  in  about  the 
sixth  degree  of  North  latitude.  The  tract  of  country  under 
the  colonial  jurisdiction,  has  been  obtained  by  fair  purchase, 
from  time  to  time,  from  the  natives,  and  extends  from  one 
hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  miles  along  the  coast,  and 
indefinitely  into  the  interior.  Two  important  districts,  Grand 
Bassa  and  Cape  Mount,  have  recently  been  acquired  in  this 
way.  There  are  several  rivers,  most  of  them  small  however. 
The  St.  Paul's  is  half  a  mile  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  were  it 
not  obstructed  by  falls,  would  admit  of  boat  navigation  two 
or  three  hundred  miles.  The  three  principal  towns  are  Mon 
rovia  and  Caldwell,  about  seven  miles  distant  on  the  St. 
Paul's  (which  is  connected  with  the  Montserado  river,  by 
Stockton  Creek,)  and  Mills  and  Burgess,  (or  by  contraction 
Millsburg,)  about  fifteen  miles  above  Caldwell,  on  the  same 
river.  The  houses  in  Monrovia  are  substantially  built,  many 
of  them  of  stone. 

'•'•Fertility  and  Agriculture. — In  their  address  the  colonists 
say:  '  A  more  fertile  soil,  and  a  more  productive  country,  so 
far  as  it  is  cultivated,  there  is  not,  we  believe,  on  the  face  of 
the  earth.'  Dr.  Randall  says,  '  that  the  land  on  both  sides 
of  Stockton  Creek  is  equal  in  every  respect,  to  the  best  on 
the  southern  rivers  of  the  United  States.' 

"  Mr.  Ashmun  thus  enumerates  the  animals  and  products  of 
the  country :  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  swine,  ducks,  geese, 
chickens,  and  Guinea  fowls,  in  abundance:  fish  in  the  great 
est  plenty ;  plantains,  bananas,  vines,  lemons,  oranges,  tama 
rinds,  mangoes,  cashew,  prunes,  guava,  pine-apple,  grape, 
cherry,  and  a  species  of  peach  ;  sweet  potato,  cassada,  yams, 
cocoa,  ground-nuts,  arrow-root,  egg-plant,  okra,  every  va 
riety  of  beans  and  peas,  cucumbers  and  melons,  pumpkins, 
&c.  &c.;  rice,  Indian  corn,  Guinea  corn,  millet,  pepper,  ex 
cellent  coffee,  sugar,  cotton,  and  indigo.  Indeed  sugar,  cot 
ton,  coffee,  and  indigo,  grow  wild. 

"  Climate,  and  Health  of  the  Settlers. — In  the  early  years  of 
the  colony,  want  of  good  houses,  the  great  fatigues  and  dan 
gers  of  the  settlers,  the  discouragements  they  met  with,  their 


127 

The  society  soon  numbered  among  its  active 
friends,  many  of  the  most  illustrious  names  in  the 
republic.  Jefferson,  Madison,  Marshall,  Monroe, 
Judge  Washington,  Henry  Clay,  Daniel  Webster, 
W.  H.  Crawford,  and  many  others,  gave  the  scheme 

ignorance  of  the  proper  mode  of  living,  and  of  the  best  reme 
dies,  aided  the  other  causes  of  sickness,  and  produced  great 
mortality.  But  those  times  are  past  and  forgotten.  Their 
houses  and  circumstances  are  now  comfortable ;  they  are 
abundantly  supplied  with  medical  assistance  ;  and  for  the 
last  five  years  (as  stated  in  the  address  of  the  colonists  in 
1827,)  not  one  person  in  forty,  from  the  middle  and  southern 
states,  has  died  from  change  of  climate.  The  effect  is  most 
severely  felt  by  those  from  the  northern  states,  or  from  moun 
tainous  parts  of  the  middle  states  ;  but  experience  has  proved 
that,  with  ordinary  prudence,  no  danger  is  to  be  apprehended 
even  by  persons  from  those  places,  who  are  sober  and  have 
no  radical  defects  of  constitution.  As  the  country  becomes 
more  thickly  settled  and  better  cultivated,  it  wili,  like  all 
other  new  countries,  become  more  healthy.  From  the  past 
mortality  or  present  sickliness,  no  discouragement  will  be  felt 
by  those  who  have  read  an  account  of  the  early  attempts  to 
found  colonies  in  this  favoured  land.  At  a  little  distance 
from  the  sea,  the  land  becomes  more  elevated,  and  there  is 
the  best  reason  to  believe  that  the  causes  of  disease  on  the 
coast  are  unknown  in  the  interior.  On  these  highlands,  set 
tlements  will  doubtless  soon  be  established.  Under  date  of 
the  28th  of  April,  1832,  Dr.  Meehlin  writes — '  among  the  emi 
grants  by  the  Volador,  Criterion,  Orion,  James  Perkins,  Mar 
garet,  Mercer,  and  Crawford,  the  number  of  deaths  will  not 
average  quite  four  per  cent.'  For  emigrants  from  the  wide  ex 
tent  of  our  southern  country,  the  climate  may  be  pronounced 
salubrious." 

"  Commerce. — The  colonists  are  actively  engaged  in  trade, 
disposing  of  goods  supplied  by  this  country  and  England, 
for  dye  woods,  ivory,  hides,  gold,  palm  oil,  and  rice,  which 
they  purchase  by  barter  from  the  natives.  The  nett  profits 
on  the  two  articles  of  wood  and  ivory,  passing  through  the 
hands  of  the  settlers,  from  January  1st,  182-6,  to  June  15, 
1826,  was  $30,786.  In  1829,  the  exports  of  African  pro 
ducts  amounted  to  $60,000.  In  1831,  forty-six  vessels,  twen 
ty-one  of  which  were  American,  visited  the  colony  in  the 
course  of  the  year,  and  the  amount  of  exports  was  $88,911, 


128 

of  colonization,  their  active  and  ardent  support. 
Auxiliary  societies  were  formed;  agents  were  ap 
pointed;  the  legislatures  of  many  of  the  states  en 
couraged  the  effort;  and  the  funds  of  the  society 
became  sufficient  to  authorize  vigorous  measures, 
to  promote  the  object  for  which  it  was  formed. 

The  views  of  the  friends  of  the  scheme  are  fully 
and  eloquently  set  forth  in  the  address,  delivered 
by  Mr.  Clay,  before  the  society  at  its  tenth  annual 
meeting.  The  following  extracts  are  sufficiently 
important  to  warrant  us  in  extracting  them  entire. 

"  The  object  of  the  Society  was  the  colonization 
of  the  free  coloured  people,  not  the  slaves,  of  the 
country.  Voluntary  in  its  institution,  voluntary  in 
its  continuance,  voluntary  in  all  its  ramifications, 
all  its  means,  purposes,  and  instruments  are  also 
voluntary.  But  it  was  said,  that  no  free  coloured 
persons  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  abandon  the 
comforts  of  civilized  life,  and  expose  themselves  to 
all  the  perils  of  a  settlement  in  a  distant,  inhospita 
ble,  and  savage  country;  that,  if  they  could  be  in 
duced  to  go  on  such  a  quixotic  expedition,  no  terri 
tory  could  be  procured  for  their  establishment  as  a 
colony;  that  the  plan  was  altogether  incompetent  to 
effectuate  its  professed  object,  and  that  it  ought  to 
be  rejected  as  the  idle  dream  of  visionary  enthusiasm. 
The  Society  has  outlived,  thank  God,  all  these  dis 
astrous  predictions.  It  has  survived  to  swell  the 
list  of  false  prophets.  It  is  no  longer  a  question  of 
speculation  whether  a  colony  can  or  cannot  be  plant 
ed  from  the  United  States  of  free  persons  of  colour 
on  the  shores  of  Africa.  It  is  a  matter  demonstrated. 
Such  a  colony  in  fact  exists,  prospers,  has  made  suc 
cessful  war,  and  honourable  peace,  and  transacts  all 
the  multiplied  business  of  a  civilized  and  Christian 
community.  It  now  has  about  five  hundred  souls, 
disciplined  troops,  forts,  and  other  means  of  defence* 


129 

sovereignty  over  an  extensive  territory,  and  exerts 
a  powerful  and  salutary  influence  over  the  neigh 
bouring  clans." 

"  The  Society  has  experienced  no  difficulty  in  the 
acquisition  of  a  territory,  upon  reasonable  terms, 
abundantly  sufficient  for  a  most  extensive  Colony. 
And  land  in  ample  quantities,  it  has  been  ascertain 
ed,  can  be  procured  in  Africa,  together  with  all 
rights  of  sovereignty,  upon  conditions  as  favourable 
as  those  on  which  the  United  States  extinguish  the 
Indian  title  to  territory  within  their  own  limits." 

"  The  Colonization  Society  has  never  imagined 
it  to  be  practicable,  or  within  the  reach  of  any 
means  which  the  several  Governments  of  the  Union 
could  bring  to  bear  on  the  subject,  to  transport  the 
whole  of  the  African  race  within  the  limits  of  the 
United  States.  Nor  is  that  necessary  to  accom 
plish  the  desirable  objects  of  domestic  tranquillity, 
and  render  us  one  homogeneous  people.  The  popu 
lation  of  the  United  States  has  been  supposed  to 
duplicate  in  periods  of  twenty-five  years.  That 
may  have  been  the  case  heretofore,  but  the  terms  of 
duplication  will  be  more  and  more  protracted  as  we 
advance  in  national  age;  and  I  do  not  believe  that 
it  will  be  found,  in  any  period  to  come,  that  our 
numbers  will  be  doubled  in  a  less  term  than  one  of 
about  thirty-three  and  a  third  years.  I  have  not 
time  to  enter  now  into  details  in  support  of  this 
opinion.  They  would  consist  of  those  checks  which 
experience  has  shown  to  obstruct  the  progress  of 
population,  arising  out  of  its  actual  augmentation 
and  density,  the  settlement  of  waste  lands,  &c.  As 
suming  the  period  of  thirty -three  and  a  third,  or 
any  other  number  of  years,  to  be  that  in  which  our 
population  will  hereafter  be  doubled,  if,  during  that 
whole  term,  the  capital  of  the  African  stock  could 
be  kept  down,  or  stationary,  whilst  that  of  Euro- 


130 

pean  origin  should  be  left  to  an  unobstructed  in 
crease,  the  result,  at  the  end  of  the  term,  would  be 
most  propitious. — Let  us  suppose,  for  example,  that 
the  whole  population  at  present  of  the  United  States 
is  twelve  millions,  of  which  ten  may  be  estimated 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and  two  of  the  African  race. 
If  there  could  be  annually  transported  from  the 
United  States,  an  amount  of  the  African  portion 
equal  to  the  annual  increase  of  the  whole  of  that 
caste,  while  the  European  race  should  be  left  to 
multiply,  we  should  find,  at  the  termination  of  the 
period  of  duplication,  whatever  it  may  be,  that  the 
relative  proportions  would  be  as  twenty  to  two. 
And  if  the  process  were  continued,  during  a  second 
term  of  duplication,  the  proportion  would  be  as 
forty  to  two — one  which  would  eradicate  every 
cause  of  alarm  or  solicitude  from  the  breasts  of  the 
most  timid.  But  the  transportation  of  Africans,  by 
creating,  to  the  extent  to  which  it  might  be  carried, 
a  vacuum  in  society,  would  tend  to  accelerate  the 
duplication  of  the  European  race,  who,  by  all  the 
laws  of  population,  would  fill  up  the  void  space." 

"  It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  aim  of  the 
Society  is  to  establish  in  Africa  a  Colony  of  the  free 
African  population  of  the  United  States;  to  an  ex 
tent  which  shall  be  beneficial  both  to  Africa  and 
America.  The  whole  free  coloured  population  of 
the  United  States  amounted,  in  1790,  to  59,481;  in 
1800,  to  110,072;  in  1810,  to  186,446;  and  in  1820, 
to  233,530.  The  ratio  of  annual  increase  during 
the  first  term  of  ten  years,  was  about  eight  and  a 
half  per  cent,  per  annum j  during  the  second,  about 
seven  per  cent,  per  annum  5  and  during  the  third,  a 
little  more  than  two  and  a  half.  The  very  great 
difference  in  the  rate  of  annual  increase,  during 
those  several  terms,  may  probably  be  accounted  for 
by  the  effect  of  the  number  of  voluntary  emancipa* 


131 

tions  operating  with  more  influence  upon  the  total 
smaller  amount  of  free  coloured  persons  at  the  first 
of  those  periods,  and  by  the  facts  of  the  insurrection 
in  St.  Domingo,  and  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana, 
both  of  which  occurring  during  the  first  and  second 
terms,  added  considerably  to  the  number  of  our 
free  coloured  population. 

"  Of  all  descriptions  of  our  population,  that  of  the 
free  coloured,  taken  in  the  aggregate, is  the  least  proli 
fic,  because  of  the  checks  arising  from  vice  and  want 
During  the  ten  years,  between  1810  and  1820,  when 
no  extraneous  causes  existed  to  prevent  a  fair  com 
petition  in  the  increase  between  the  slave  and  the 
free  African  race,  the  former  increased  at  the  rate  of 
nearly  three  per  cent,  per  annum,  whilst  the  latter 
did  not  much  exceed  two  and  a  half.     Hereafter,  it 
may  be  safely  assumed,  and  I  venture  to  predict 
will  not  be  contradicted  by  the  return  of  the  next 
census,  that  the  increase  of  the  free  black  popula 
tion  will  not  surpass  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  per 
annum.     Their   amount   at  the  last  census,  being 
233,530,  for  the  sake  of  round  numbers,  their  annual 
increase  may  be  assumed  to  be  6000,  at  the  present 
time.      Now,   if   this    number   could   be   annually 
transported  from  the  United  States  during  a  term  of 
years,  it  is  evident  that,  at  the  end  of  that  term,  the 
parent  capital  will  not  have  increased,  but  will  have 
been  kept  down  at  least  to  what  it  was  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  term.     Is  it  practicable  then  to 
colonize  annually   six    thousand  persons   from   the 
United  States,  without  materially  impairing  or  af 
fecting  any  of   the  great  interests  of  the  United 
States  ?  This  is  the  question  presented  to  the  judg 
ments  of  the  Legislative  authorities  of  our  country. 
This  is  the  whole  scheme  of  the  Society.     From 
its  actual  experience,   derived  from  the  expenses 
which  have  been  incurred  in  transporting  the  per- 


132 

sons  already  sent  to  Africa,  the  entire  average  ex 
pense  of  each  Colonist,  young  and  old,  including 
passage  money  and  subsistence,  may  be  stated  at 
twenty  dollars  per  head.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  it  may  be  reduced  considerably  below  that  sum. 
Estimating  that  to  be  the  expense,  the  total  cost  of 
transporting  6000  souls  annually,  to  Africa,  would 
be  $120,000.  The  tonnage  requisite  to  effect  the 
object,  calculating  two  persons  to  every  five  tons 
(which  is  the  provision  of  existing  law)  would  be 
15,000  tons.  But  as  each  vessel  could  probably 
make  two  voyages  in  the  year,  it  may  be  reduced 
to  7,500.  And  as  both  our  mercantile  and  military 
marine  might  be  occasionally  employed  on  this  col 
lateral  service,  without  injury  to  the  main  object  of 
the  voyage,  a  further  abatement  might  be  safely 
made  in  the  aggregate  amount  of  the  necessary  ton 
nage.  The  navigation  concerned  in  the  commerce 
between  the  Colony  and  the  United  States,  (and  it 
already  begins  to  supply  subjects  of  an  interesting 
trade,)  might  be  incidentally  employed  to  the  same 
end. 

"Is  the  annual  expenditure  of  a  sum  no  larger  than 
$120,000,  and  the  annual  employment  of  7,500  tons 
of  shipping,  too  much  for  reasonable  exertion,  con 
sidering  the  magnitude  of  the  object  in  view  ?  Are 
they  not,  on  the  contrary,  within  the  compass  of 
moderate  efforts  ? 

"  Here  is  the  whole  scheme  of  the  Society — a 
project  which  has  been  pronounced  visionary  by 
those  who  have  never  given  themselves  the  trouble 
to  examine  it,  but  to  which  I  believe  most  unbiassed 
men  will  yield  their  cordial  assent,  after  they  have 
investigated  it." 

"  Assuming  the  future  increase  to  be  at  the  rate 
of  three  per  cent,  per  annum,  the  annual  addition  to 
the  number  of  slaves  in  the  United  States,  calculated 


133 

upon  the  return  of  the  last  census  (1,538,128)  is 
46,000.  Applying  the  data  which  have  been  al 
ready  stated  and  explained,  in  relation  to  the  colo 
nization  of  free  persons  of  colour  from  the  United 
States  to  Africa,  to  the  aggregate  annual  increase 
both  bond  and  free  of  the  African  race,  and  the  re 
sult  will  be  found  most  encouraging.  The  total 
number  of  the  annual  increase  of  both  descriptions, 
is  52,000.  The  total  expense  of  transporting  that 
number  to  Africa,  (supposing  no  reduction  of  pre 
sent  prices,)  would  be  one  million  and  forty  thousand 
dollars,  and  the  requisite  amount  of  tonnage  would 
be  only  130.000  tons  of  shipping,  about  one-ninth 
part  of  the  mercantile  marine  of  the  United  States; 
Upon  the  supposition  of  a  vessel's  making  two 
voyages  in  the  year,  it  would  be  reduced  to  one 
half,  65,000.  And  this  quantity  would  be  still  fur 
ther  reduced,  by  embracing  opportunites  of  inci 
dental  employment  of  vessels  belonging  both  to  the 
mercantile  and  military  marines. 

"But,  is  the  annual  application  of  $1,040,000, 
and  the  employment  of  65  or  even  130,000  tons  of 
shipping,  considering  the  magnitude  of  the  object, 
beyond  the  ability  of  this  country  ?  Is  there  a  pat 
riot,  looking  forward  to  its  domestic  quiet,  its  happi 
ness  and  its  glory,  that  would  not  cheerfully  con 
tribute  his  proportion  of  the  burthen  to  accomplish 
a  purpose  so  great  and  so  humane  ?  During  the 
general  continuance  of  the  African  slave  trade, 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  slaves  have  been,  in  a 
single  year,  imported  into  the  several  countries 
whose  laws  authorized  their  admission.  Notwith 
standing  the  vigilance  of  the  powers  now  engaged 
to  suppress  the  slave  trade,  I  have  received  infor 
mation,  that  in  a  single  year,  in  the  single  island  of 
Cuba,  slaves  equal  in  amount  to  one  half  of  the 
above  number  of  52,000  have  been  illicitly  intro- 
12 


134 

duced.  Is  it  possible  lhat  those  who  are  concerned 
in  an  infamous  traffic,  can  effect  more  than  the  States 
of  this  Union,  if  they  were  seriously  to  engage  in 
the  good  work  ?  Is  it  credible — is  it  not  a  libel  upon 
human  nature  to  suppose,  that  the  triumphs  of  fraud 
and  violence  and  iniquity,  can  surpass  those  of  vir 
tue  and  benevolence  and  humanity  ?" 

"  Further,  by  the  annual  withdrawal  of  52,000 
persons  of  colour,  there  would  be  annual  space 
created  for  an  equal  number  of  the  white  race.  The 
period,  therefore,  of  duplication  of  the  whites,  by 
the  laws  which  govern  population,  would  be  accele- 
rajed." 

CThe  friends  of  colonization  urge  the  scheme  on 
other  grounds,  many  of  which  are  entitled  to  atten 
tion. 

They  allege  that,  notwithstanding  the  severe 
enactments  against  the  slave-trade,  it  is  continued 
to  a  great  extent,  and  that  nothing  can  effectually 
suppress  it  but  the  establishment  of  colonies  along 
the  coast.  This  statement  has  not  been,  so  far  as 
we  are  informed,  assailed.  The  extent  of  the  inhu 
man  traffic  is  conceded;  and  the  usefulness  of  the 
colony  in  discouraging  it  has  been  fully  attested. 

It  is  urged  also,  that  the  influence  of  colonies 
along  the  African  coast  upon  the  savage  nations  can 
not  but  be  beneficial.  The  settlers  will  introduce 
to  the  benighted  negro  the  light  of  Christianity  and 
civilization,  and  rescue  them  from  the  moral  dark 
ness  and  physical  wretchedness  in  which  that  con 
tinent  has,  since  the  creation  of  the  world,  been 
buried.  The  settlements,  it  is  supposed,  will  be 
missionary  stations  from  which  Christian  ministers 
may  operate  upon  the  African;  while  the  trade 
already  commenced  between  the  natives  and  the 
settlers,  and  the  more  intimate  and  amicable  inter 
course  which,  should  the  colonies  prosper,  will  take 


135 

place  hereafter,  will  tend  greatly  to  impart  to  the 
negroes  the  advantages  of  civilization.  Mr.  Clay 
thus  eloquently  refers  to  this  consequence  of  civili 
zation.  "  There  is  a  moral  fitness  in  the  idea  of 
returning  to  Africa  her  children,  whose  ancestors 
have  been  torn  from  her  by  the  ruthless  hand  of 
fraud  and  violence.  Transplanted  in  a  foreign  land, 
they  will  carry  back  to  their  native  soil  the  rich 
fruits  of  religion,  civilization,  law  and  liberty. 
May  it  not  be  one  of  the  great  designs  of  the  Ruler 
of  the  Universe,  (whose  ways  are  often  inscrutable 
by  short  sighted  mortals,)  thus  to  transform  an  ori 
ginal  crime  into  a  signal  blessing  to  that  most  un 
fortunate  portion  of  the  Globe." 

The  commercial  advantages  to  be  derived  from 
the  colonization  of  Africa  have  also  been  urged  by 
its  friends  as  a  cogent  argument  in  favour  of  the 
scheme.  The  commerce  already  created  is  said  to 
be  valuable;  and  should  the  expectations  of  the 
friends  of  colonization  be  realized  and  large  civilized 
and  wealthy  nations  be  raised  up  on  the  Western 
Coast  of  Africa,  the  commercial  advantages  to  this 
country  would,  it  is  thought,  be  incalculably  valu 
able. 

The  advance  of  the  Society  has  perhaps  been  as 
rapid  as  those  acquainted  with  the  difficulties  of 
colonization  could  have  expected.  The  settlement 
comprises  more  than  three  thousand  souls.  The  in 
habitants  are  temperate  and  moral,  but  addicted  to 
barter,  and  indisposed  to  agricultural  labour.  Many 
of  the  colonists  have  realized  fortunes;  but,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  neglect  of  agriculture,  the  settle 
ment  does  not  wear  an  air  of  permanence  and  com 
fort  Several  large  tracts  have  been  added  to  the 
territory  of  the  colony;  and  new  and  successful  set 
tlements  have  been  made.  The  scheme  has  been 
extensively  discussed  in  the  periodicals  of  the  coun- 


136 

try,  and  a  decided  feeling  has-  been  manifested  in 
many  sections  of  the  Union  in  its  favour.  Several 
of  the  State  Legislatures  have  extended  direct  pe 
cuniary  aid  to  promote  the  cause;  and  a  number  of 
the  most  able  and  influential  men  in  the  country 
continue  to  advocate  colonization  with  ardour  and 
confidence. 

The  project  is  not  however  without  its  opponents. 
Within  a  few  years  past  this  opposition  has  increas 
ed  both  in  extent  and  ardour,  and  is  still  maintained 
with  a  vigor  which  endangers  the  efficiency  and 
success  of  the  scheme  of  colonization.  So  huge  a 
scheme  of  benevolence,  requiring  immense  re 
sources,  and  relying  almost  exclusively  upon  indi 
vidual  benevolence,  is  not,  however  meritorious, 
prepared  to  sustain  a  vigorous  and  bitter  opposition. 
Those  who  argue  on  the  side  of  selfishness  are  gene 
rally  considered  cogent  and  persuasive  reasoners; 
and  when  argument  unites  with  interest  and  avarice 
to  withhold  the  hand  of  charity,  the  sense  of  duty 
is  seldom  strong  enough  to  extend  it.  The  friends 
of  colonization  continue,  however,  to  urge  it  with 
spirit;  its  collections  are  large;  and  should  it  sur 
vive  the  present  opposition,  it  will  perhaps  come, 
strengthened  and  stabilitated,  from  the  trial. 

The  opponents  of  colonization  may  be  divided 
into  two  classes.  The  first  is  composed  of  the 
friends  of  immediate  abolition.  They  oppose  colo 
nization,  as  unjust  to  the  negro,  who  is,  they  urge, 
a  native  of  this  country  and  entitled  by  the  law  of 
nature  to  immediate  and  unconditional  emancipation, 
and  to  a  full  participation  in  the  rights  of  the  whites, 
without  expatriation.  The  other  class  of  anti-colo- 
nizationists  are  those,  who  regard  all  interference 
with  the  subject  of  slavery  as  calculated  to  endan 
ger  the  prosperity,  and  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  the 
citizens  of  the  South. 


137 

The  abolitionists  have  succeeded  in  detaching 
many  excited  religionists  from  the  cause  of  coloniza 
tion,  and  also  in  raising  on  the  part  of  the  free 
coloured  people  a  strong  and  almost  universal  pre 
judice  against  the  African  settlement.  The  conse 
quence  is,  that  the  views  of  the  Society  have  been 
necessarily  limited  principally  to  the  colonization 
of  emancipated  slaves. 

Many  objections  are  made  against  the  scheme  of 
African  colonization,  which  we  have  not  space  to 
present.  Among  others,  the  insalubrity  of  the  cli 
mate,  the  difficulties  of  colonization,  the  great  length 
of  time  required  to  prepare  the  colony  for  the  re 
ception  of  any  considerable  number  of  emigrants, 
and  the  indisposition  of  the  colonists  to  agricultural 
labour,  which  can  alone  furnish  means  for  the  sup 
port  of  a  large  population.  Many  of  these  obsta 
cles  might  be  obviated,  but  the  question  of  the 
practicability  of  colonization  would  still  remain  un 
determined.  Having  given  the  views  of  Mr.  Clay 
in  support  of  the  scheme,  we  will  extract  those  of 
Professor  Dew,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  question. 
Professor  Dew's  arguments  are  intended  for  the 
State  of  Virginia,  but  are  equally  applicable  to  any 
of  the  Southern  States. 

"  We  take  it  for  granted,  that  the  right  of  the 
owner  to  his  slave  is  to  be  respected,  and,  conse 
quently,  that  he  is  not  required  to  emancipate  him, 
unless  his  full  value  is  paid  by  the  State.  Let  us,  then 
keeping  this  in  view,  proceed  to  a  very  simple  cal 
culation  of  the  expense  of  emancipation  and  depor 
tation  in  Virginia.  The  slaves,  by  the  last  census 
(1830)  amounted,  within  a  small  fraction,  to  four 
hundred  and  seventy  thousand,  the  average  value 
of  each  one  of  these  is  two  hundred  dollars,  con 
sequently,  the  whole  aggregate  value  of  the  slave 
population  in  Virginia  in  1830,  was  ninety -four 
12* 


138 

million  dollars;  and  allowing  for  the  increase  since, 
we  cannot  err  far  in  putting  the  present  value  at 
one  hundred  million  dollars.  The  assessed  value  of 
all  the  houses  and  lands  in  the  State  amounts  to 
two  hundred  and  six  million  dollars,  and  these  con 
stitute  the  material  items  in  the  wealth  of  the  State, 
the  whole  personal  property  besides  bearing  but  a 
very  small  proportion  to  the  value  of  slaves,  lands, 
and  houses.  Now,  do  not  these  very  simple  statis 
tics  speak  volumes  upon  this  subject  ?  It  is  gravely 
recommended  to  the  State  of  Virginia  to  give  up  a 
species  of  property  which  constitutes  nearly  one 
third  of  the  wealth  of  the  whole  State,  and  almost 
one  half  of  that  of  Lower  Virginia,  and  with  the 
remaining  two  thirds  to  encounter  the  additional 
enormous  expense  of  transportation  and  colonization 
on  the  Coast  of  Africa.  But  the  loss  of  one  hun 
dred  million  dollars  of  property  is  scarcely  the  half 
of  what  Virginia  would  lose,  if  the  immutable  laws 
of  nature  could  suffer  (as  fortunately  they  cannot) 
this  tremendous  scheme  of  colonization  to  be  car 
ried  into  full  effect.  Is  it  not  population  which 
makes  our  lands  and  houses  valuable?  Why  are  lots 
in  Paris  and  London  worth  more  than  the  silver 
dollars  which  it  might  take  to  cover  them  ?  Why 
are  lands  of  equal  fertility  in  England  and  France 
worth  more  than  those  of  our  Northern  States,  and 
those  again  worth  more  than  our  Southern  soils,  and 
those  in  turn  worth  more  than  the  soils  of  the  dis 
tant  West  ?  It  is  the  presence  or  absence  of  popula 
tion,  which  alone  can  explain  the  fact.  It  is,  in 
truth,  the  slave  labour  in  Virginia  which  gives  value 
to  her  soil,  and  her  habitations:  take  away  this,  and 
you  pull  down  the  atlas  that  upholds  the  whole 
system;  eject  from  the  State  the  whole  slave  popu 
lation,  and  we  risk  nothing  in  the  prediction  that  on 
the  day  in  which  it  shall  be  accomplished,  the  worn 


139 

soils  of  Virginia  will  not  bear  the  paltry  price  of 
the  government  lands  in  the  West,  and  the  Old 
Dominion  will  be  a  'waste  howling  wilderness;' — 
'  the  grass  shall  be  seen  growing  in  the  streets,  and 
the  foxes  peeping  from  their  holes.' 

"  But  the  favourers  of  this  scheme  say  they  do  not 
contend  for  the  sudden  emancipation  and  deporta 
tion  of  the  whole  black  population;  they  would 
send  off  only  the  increase,  and  thereby  keep  down 
the  population  to  its  present  amount,  while  the 
whites,  increasing  at  their  usual  rate,  would  finally 
become  relatively  so  numerous  as  to  render  the  pre 
sence  of  the  blacks  among  us  for  ever  afterwards 
entirely  harmless.  This  scheme  which  at  first  to 
the  unreflecting  seems  plausible,  and  much  less  wild 
than  the  project  of  sending  off  the  whole,  is  neverthe 
less  impracticable  and  visionary,  as  we  think  a  few 
remarks  will  prove.  It  is  computed  that  the  an 
nual  increase  of  the  slaves  and  free  coloured  popu 
lation  of  Virginia  is  about  six  thousand.  Let  us 
first,  then,  make  a  calculation  of  the  expense  of 
purchase  and  transportation.  At  two  hundred  dollars 
each,  the  six  thousand  will  amount  in  value  to  one  mil 
lion  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  At  thirty  dollars 
each  for  transportation,  which  we  shall  soon  see  is  too 
little,  we  have  the  whole  expense  of  purchase  and 
transportation  one  million  three  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  dollars,  an  expense  to  be  annually 
incurred  by  Virginia  to  keep  down  her  black  popu 
lation  to  its  present  amount.  And  let  us  ask,  is 
there  any  one  who  can  seriously  argue  that  Virginia 
can  incur  such  an  annual  expense  as  this  for  the 
next  twenty-five  or  fifty  years,  until  the  whites  have 
multiplied  so  greatly  upon  the  blacks,  as  in  the 
opinion  of  the  alarmists,  for  ever  to  quiet  the  fears 
of  the  community  ?  Vain  and  delusive  hope,  if  any 
were  ever  wild  enough  to  entertain  it!  Poor  old 


140 

Virginia!  the  leader  of  the  poverty  stricken  team, 
which  has  been  for  years  so  heavtily  dragging 
along  under  the  intolerable  burthen  of  the  Federal 
Government,  must  inevitably  be  crushed  whenever 
this  new  weight  is  imposed  on  her,  in  comparison 
with  which  federal  exactions,  are  light  and  mild. 
We  should  as  soon  expect  the  chamois,  the  hardy 
rover  over  Alpine  regions,  by  his  unassisted 
strength  to  hurl  down  the  snowy  mantle  which  for 
ages  has  clothed  the  lofty  summit  of  Mount  Blanc, 
as  that  Virginia  will  be  ever  able  by  her  own  re 
sources,  to  purchase  and  colonize  on  the  Coast  of 
Africa  six  thousand  slaves  for  any  number  of  years 
in  succession/' 

"  We  have  already  shown  that  the  first  operation 
of  the  plan,  if  slave  property  were  rigidly  respect 
ed,  and  never  taken  without  full  compensation, 
would  be  to  put  a  stop  to  the  efflux  from  the  State 
through  other  channels;  but  this  would  not  be  the 
only  effect.  Government,  entering  into  the  market 
with  individuals,  would  elevate  the  price  of  slaves 
beyond  their  natural  value,  and  consequently  the 
raising  of  them  would  become  an  object  of  primary 
importance  throughout  the  whole  State.  We  can 
readily  imagine  that  the  price  of  slaves  might  be 
come  so  great,  that  each  master  would  do  all  in  his 
power  to  encourage  marriage  among  them — would 
allow  the  females  entire  exception  from  labour,  that 
they  might  the  better  breed  and  nurse — and  would 
so  completely  concentrate  his  efforts  upon  this  ob 
ject  as  to  neglect  other  schemes,  and  less  productive 
sources  of  wealth.  Under  these  circumstances,  the 
prolific  African  might  no  doubt  be  stimulated  to 
press  hard  upon  one  of  the  limits  above  stated, 
doubling  in  numbers,  in  fifteen  years;  and  such  is 
the  tendency  which  our  abolition  schemes,  if  seri 
ously  engaged  in,  will  most  undoubtedly  produce. 


141 

They  will  be  certain  to  stimulate  the  procreative 
powers  of  the  very  race  which  they  are  aiming  to 
diminish;  they  will  enlarge  and  invigorate  the  very 
monster  which  they  are  endeavouring  to  stifle,  and 
realize  the  beautiful  but  melancholy  fable  of  Sisyphus, 
by  an  eternal  renovation  of  hope  and  disappoint 
ment.  If  it  were  possible  for  Virginia  to  purchase 
and  send  off  annually  for  the  next  twenty-five  or  fifty 
years  12,000  slaves,  we  should  have  very  little  hesi 
tation  in  affirming,  that  the  number  of  slaves  in 
Virginia  would  not  be  at  all  lessened  by  the  opera 
tion,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the  period  such  habits 
would  be  generated  among  our  blacks,  that  for  a 
long  time  after  the  cessation  of  the  drain,  popula 
tion  might  advance  so  rapidly,  as  to  produce  among 
us,  all  the  calamities  and  miseries  of  an  overcrowd 
ed  people." 

"  But,  say  some,  if  Virginia  cannot  accomplish 
this  work,  let  us  call  upon  the  general  Government 
for  aid — let  Hercules  be  requested  to  put  his  shoul 
der  to  the  wheels,  and  roll  us  through  this  formida 
ble  quagmire  of  our  difficulties.  Delusive  pros 
pect!  corrupting  scheme!  We  will  throw  all 
constitutional  difficulties  out  of  view,  and  ask  if 
the  Federal  Government  can  be  requested  to  under 
take  the  expense  for  Virginia,  without  encountering 
it  for  the  whole  slave  holding  population?  And 
then,  whence  can  be  drawn  the  funds  to  purchase 
more  than  2,000,000,  of  slaves,  worth  at  the  lowest 
calculation  $400,000,000?  or  if  the  increase  alone  be 
sent  off, can  Congress  undertake, annually  to  purchase 
at  least  60,000  slaves  at  an  expense  of  $12,000,000, 
and  deport  and  colonize  them  at  an  expense  of 
twelve  or  fifteen  millions  more?  But  the  fabled 
hydra  would  be  more  than  realized  in  this  project. 
We  have  no  doubt  that,  if  the  United  States  in  good 
faith  should  enter  into  the  slave  markets  of  the 


142 

country,  determined  to  purchase  up  the  whole  an 
nual  increase  of  our  slaves,  so  unwise  a  project,  by 
its  artificial  demand  would  immediately  produce  a 
rise  in  this  property  throughout  the  whole  Southern 
country,   of  at  least  thirty-three   and   a  third   per 
cent. ;  it  would  stimulate  and  invigorate  the  spring 
of  black  population,  which,  by  its  tremendous  action, 
would  set  at  naught  the  puny  efforts  of  man,  and, 
like   the  Grecian  matron,  unweave   in   the   night 
what  had  been  woven  in  the  day.     We  might  well 
calculate  upon  an  annual  increase  of  at  least  four 
and  a  half  per  cent,  upon  our  two  millions  of  slaves, 
if  ever  the  United  States  should  create  the  artificial 
demand  which  we  have  just  spoken  of;  and  then,  in 
stead  of  an  increase  of  60,000,  there  will  be  90,000, 
bearing  the  average  price  of  $300  each,  making  the 
enormous  annual  expense  of  purchase  alone  27  mil 
lions!  and  difficulties,  too,  on  the  side  of  the  colony, 
would  more  than  enlarge  with  the  increase  of  the  evil 
at  home.     Our  Colonization  Society  has  been  more 
than  fifteen  years  at  work;  it  has  purchased,  accord 
ing  to  its  friends,  a  district  of  country  as  congenial 
to  the  constitution  of  the  black  as  any  in  Africa;  it 
has,  as  we  have  seen,  frequently  over-supplied  the 
Colony  with  emigrants;  and  mark  the  result,  for  it 
is  worthy  of   all  observation — there  are  now  not 
more  than  2,000  or  2,500  inhabitants  in  Liberia; 
and  these  are  alarmed  lest  the  Southampton  insur 
rection,  may  cause  such  an  emigration  as  to  inundate 
the  Colony.  When,  then,  in  the  lapse  of  time,  can  we 
ever  expect  to  build  up  a  colony  which  can  receive 
sixty  or  ninety  thousand  slaves  per  annum?   And  if 
this  should  ever  arrive,  what  guarantee  could  be  fur 
nished  us  that  their  ports  would  always  be  open  to  our 
emigrants?  Would  law  or  compact  answer?  Oh,  no! 
some  legislator  in  the  plentitude  of  his  wisdom, 
might  arise,  who  could  easily  and  truly  persuade 


143 

his  countrymen  that  these  annual  importations  of 
blacks  were  nuisances,  and  the  laws  of  God,  what 
ever  might  be  those  of  men,  would  justify  their 
abatement.      And    the    drama    would    be     wound 
up   in   this   land  of  promise  and  expectation,    by 
turning  the   cannon's   mouth  against  the  liberated 
emigrant  and  deluded  philanthropist.     The  scheme 
of  colonizing  our  blacks  on  the  Coast  of  Africa,  or 
any  where  else,  by  the  United  States,  is  thus  seen 
to  be  more  stupendously  absurd  than  even  the  Vir 
ginia  project.     King  Canute  the  Dane,  seated  on  the 
sea-shore,  and  ordering  the  rising  flood  to  recede 
from  his  royal  feet,  was  not  guilty  of  more  vanity 
and    presumption    than   the    Government    of    the 
United  States  would  manifest,  in  the  vain  effort  of 
removing  and  colonizing  the  annual  increase  of  our 
blacks.    So  far  from  being  able  to  remove  the  whole 
annual  increase  every  year,  we  shall  not  be  enabled 
to   send   off  a  number  sufficiently  great  to   check 
even  the  geometrical  rate  of  increase.     Our  black 
population  is  now  producing  sixty  thousand  per  an 
num,  and   next  year   we   must   add   to   this   sum 
eighteen  hundred,  which  the   increment   alone  is 
capable  of  producing,  and  the  year  after,  the  incre 
ment  upon  the  increment,  &c.     Now,  let  us  throw 
out  of  view  for  a  moment,  the  idea  of  grappling 
with  the  whole  annual  increase,  and  see  whether, 
by  colonization  we  can  expect  to  turn  this  geomet 
rical  increase  into   an  arithmetical  one.     We  will 
then  take  the  annual  increase  60,000,  as  our  capital, 
and  it  will  be  necessary  to  send  off  the  increase 
upon  this,  1,800,  to  prevent  the  geometrical  increase 
of  the  whole  black  population.     Let  us  then,  for  a 
moment,  inquire  whether  the  abolitionists  can  ex 
pect  to  realize  this  petty  advantage. 

"Mr.  Bacon  admits  that  1,000  emigrants  now 
thrown  into  Liberia  would  ruin  it.    We  believe  that 


144 

every  reflecting,  sober  member  of  the  Colonization 
Society,  will  acknowledge  that  five  hundred  an 
nually,  are  fully  as  many  as  the  colony  can  now 
receive.  We  will  assume  this  number,  though  no 
doubt  greatly  beyond  the  truth;  and  we  will  admit 
further,  what  we  could  easily  demonstrate  to  be 
much  too  liberal  a  concession,  that  the  capacity  of 
the  Colony  for  the  reception  of  emigrants,  may  be 
made  to  enlarge  in  a  geometrical  ratio,  equal  to  that 
of  the  rate  of  increase  of  the  blacks  in  the  United 
States.  Now  with  these  very  liberal  concessions  on 
our  part,  let  us  examine  into  the  effect  of  the  Colo 
nization  scheme.  At  the  end  of  the  first  year,  we 
shall  have  for  the  amount  of  the  60,000,  increasing 
at  the  rate  of  three  and  a-half  per  cent,  61,800;  and 
subtracting  500  we  shall  begin  the  second  year  with 
the  number  of  61,300,  which,  increasing  at  the  rate 
of  three  and  a-half  per  centum,  gives  63,139  for  the 
amount  at  the  end  of  the  second  year.  Proceeding 
thus,  we  obtain,  at  the  end  of  twenty-five  years,  for 
the  amount  of  the  60,000,  101,208.  The  number 
taken  away,  that  is  the  sum  of  500+500X1,003+ 
500X1,0032  &c.  will  be  18,197.  It  is  thus  seen 
that,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  Colonization 
scheme,  the  bare  annual  increase  of  our  slaves,  will 
produce  41,208  more  than  can  be  sent  off;  which 
number  of  course  must  be  added  to  the  capital  of 
60,000;  and  long,  very  long,  before  the  Colony  in 
Africa,  upon  our  system  of  calculation  ever  could 
receive  the  increase  upon  this  accumulating  capital, 
its  capacity  as  a  recipient  would  be  checked  by  the 
limitation  of  territory  and  the  rapid  filling  up  of 
the  population,  both  by  emigration  and  natural  in 
crease.  And  thus  by  a  simple  arithmetical  calcula 
tion,  we  may  be  convinced  that  the  effort  to  check 
even  the  geometrical  rate  of  increase,  by  sending 
off  the  increment  upon  the  annual  increase  of  our 


145 

slaves,  is  greatly  more  than  we  can  accomplish,  and 
must  inevitably  terminate  in  disappointment — more 
than  realizing  the  fable  of  the  frog  and  the  ox — for 
in  this  case  we  should  have  the  frog  swelling,  not 
for  the  purpose  of  rivalling  the  ox  in  size,  but  to 
swallow  him  down  horns  and  all ! 

"  Seeing,  then,  that  the  effort  to  send  away  the  in 
crease  on  even  the  present  increase  of  our  slaves, 
must  be  vain  and  fruitless — how  stupendously  ab 
surd  must  be  the  project,  proposing  to  send  off  the 
whole  increase,  so  as  to  keep  down  the  negro  popu 
lation  at  its  present  amount!  There  are  some  things 
which  man  arrayed  in  all  his  "  brief  authority" — 
cannot  accomplish,  and  this  is  one  of  them.  Colo 
nization  schemers,  big  and  busy  in  the  management 
of  all  their  little  machinery  and  gravely  proposing 
it  as  an  engine,  by  which  our  black  population  may 
be  sent  to  the  now  uncongenial  home  of  their  ances 
tors,  across  an  ocean  of  thousands  of  miles  in 
width,  but  too  strongly  reminds  us  of  the  vain  man, 
who,  in  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  power, 
ordered  his  servile  attendants  to  stop  the  rise  of 
ocean's  tide  by  carrying  off  its  accumulating  waters. 
Emigration  has  rarely  checked  the  increase  of  popu 
lation,  by  directly  lessening  its  number — it  can  only 
do  it  by  the  abstraction  of  capital  and  by  paralyz 
ing  the  spring  of  population, — and  then  it  blights  and 
withers  the  prosperity  of  the  land.  The  population 
of  Europe  has  not  been  thinned  by  emigration  to 
the  New  World — the  province  of  Andalusia  in 
Spain,  which  sent  out  the  greatest  number  of  emi 
grants  to  the  Islands  and  to  Mexico  and  Peru,  has 
been  precisely  the  district  in  Spain  which  has  in 
creased  its  population  most  rapidly.  Ireland  now 
sends  forth  a  greater  number  of  emigrants  than  any 
other  country  in  the  world,  and  yet  the  population 
13 


146 

of  Ireland  is  now  increasing  faster  than  any  other 
population  of  Europe!" 

The  scheme  of  colonization  has  heen  popular  in 
this  country,  and  is  still  clung  to  with  partial  fond 
ness.  Those  who  are  prejudiced  against  domestic 
slavery  and  averse  to  the  presence  of  a  negro  popu 
lation  in  the  country,  and  who  regard  the  mad  pro 
ject  of  emancipation  in  its  proper  light,  view  the 
plan  of  colonization  as  the  only  remedy  for  what 
they  consider  a  national  evil.  They  are  perhaps 
correct  in  regarding  it  as  the  best  plan  which  has 
been  suggested:  but  whether  the  object  desired — the 
removal  of  the  negro  race  from  this  country — be 
within  the  scope  of  any  justifiable  exertion  of  hu 
man  energy,  remains  to  be  determined.  Many  of 
the  objections  urged  against  colonization  might  be 
obviated.  There  is  no  necessity  for  adhering  to 
the  present  experiment  if  a  better  can  be  suggested. 
If  the  object  desired  can  be  better,  easier,  or  sooner 
attained  by  colonization  elsewhere,  than  in  Africa; 
if  a  healthier  or  cheaper  site  can  be  selected,  there 
is  no  reason  why  Liberia  should  not  be  abandoned. 
It  is  unfair  to  argue  against  the  scheme  from  the 
errors  and  misfortunes  of  the  present  colony — 
errors  and  misfortunes  from  which  another  colony 
might  be  exempt.  That  colonization  is  practicable, 
every  page  of  history  demonstrates.  Our  own  ex 
istence  answers  all  objections  on  that  score.  The 
success  of  the  English  at  New  South  Wales,  and  in 
all  sections  of  the  habitable  world,  proves  that  large 
and  flourishing  colonies,  sufficient  for  the  bases  of 
future  empires,  may,  even  by  a  moderate  exertion 
of  the  energies  of  a  commercial  nation,  be  estab 
lished.  But  the  question  of  the  practicability  of 
removing  the  negro  race,  or  its  increase,  from  this 
country,  remains  to  be  settled.  The  great  obsta 
cles  alleged,  those  which  no  change  of  the  plan 


147 

could  obviate,  and  which  appear  appallingly  formid 
able  are,  briefly,  as  follows: 

1.  The  expense  of  the  scheme.  To  purchase  and 
transport  60,000  slaves  annually  (and  the  increase 
is  now  more  than  that  number)  would  cost,  it  is 
supposed,  $25,000,000.  How  is  this  to  be  raised? 
Private  benevolence  cannot  even  attempt  it.  The 
slave-holding  States  will  not  undertake  it,  for  it  is 
not  only  beyond  their  power,  but  would,  if  at 
tempted,  utterly  ruin  them.  Shall  the  General 
Government  undertake  it?  The  Constitution  will 
not  sanction  it.  If  it  would,  or  if  it  could  be 
changed,  where  or  how  could  that  sum  be  raised? 
A  direct  tax  would  not  be  borne.  If  raised  by 
duties  on  imports,  the  burthen  would  fall  upon  the 
South  and  a  double  ruin  be  thus  visited  upon  that 
hapless  and  persecuted  section  of  our  country.  The 
sale  of  public  lands  would  in  the  last  resort  be  look 
ed  to;  and  if  adequate  to  the  object,  would  only  be 
an  indirect  mode  of  impoverishing  the  country. 
Our  people  possess  such  elasticity  and  enterprize, 
that  they  can  bear  what  would  crush  any  other:  but 
could  they,  without  the  worst  afflictions,  endure  the 
loss  of  the  labouring  population  of  the  South,  and 
pay  for  that  loss  at  the  rate  of  upwards  of  25  mil 
lion  dollars  per  annum,  for  an  indefinite  period? 

2.  The  second  obstacle  is  the  difficulties  attend 
ant  on  colonization  under  the  most  favourable  cir 
cumstances;  the  fearful  expense  of  nursing  an  in 
fant  colony  into  vigor;  and  the  very  great  time  that 
must  elapse  before  it  can  have  attained   sufficient 
maturity  to  bear  an  annual  access  of  60,000  to  its 
numbers. 

3.  The  habits  of   the   negro  render  it  doubtful 
whether  a  successful  colony  of  that  race  can  ever, 
under  the  most  auspicious  circumstances,  be  effect 
ed.     They  will  not  work  without  compulsion;  and 


148 

colonization  requires  severe  and  continued  toil.  If 
the  negro,  when  left  to  himself,  can  be  induced 
to  labour,  or  withheld  from  relapsing  into  barbar 
ism — it  remains  to  be  proven.  No  such  case  has  yet 
occurred. 

4.  Will  the  South  consent  to  relinquish  her  slaves? 
Will  she  consent  to  contribute  her  own  money  to 
buy  her  own  property?     Is  she  convinced,  or  can 
she  be  persuaded  to  believe,  that  her  lands  can  be 
cultivated  without  negro  labour?  or  could  she  con 
sent  to  relinquish  that  labour  without  seeing  her 
rich  soil  relapse  into  a  wilderness? 

5.  The  great  difficulty,  however,  appears  to  be, 
the  tendency  of  the  natural  increase  to  swell  with 
the   increase  of  the  deportation.     The  law  of  po 
pulation,  by  which  the  chasm  left  in  a  country  by 
emigration  is  filled  up  by  the  increased  activity  of 
procreation,  appears  to  be  generally  conceded,  and 
is  beyond  the  reach  of  philosophers  and  legislators. 
Unless  the  position  assumed  by  the  anti-coloniza- 
tionists  on  this  point  can  be  refuted,  apprehensions 
may  be  rationally  entertained  that  the  effort  made 
to  remove  the  slave  population  will  only  tax  and 
enfeeble  the  country,  without  advancing  one  step 
towards  the  result  desired. 

Whatever  may  be  the  advantages  or  disadvan 
tages  of  colonization,  recent  events  have  made  the 
South  indisposed  to  the  agitation  of  emancipation 
in  any  of  its  shapes.  At  present  the  South  is  satis 
fied  with  her  domestic  institutions,  and  seeks  no 
change.  In  answer  to  the  colonizationists  of  the 
North,  she  bids  them  proceed  in  their  work,  colo 
nize  their  own  free  blacks,  the  most  degraded,  dan 
gerous,  and  unhappy  population  in  our  country — 
and  when  that  is  effected,  it  will  be  time  to  decide 
on  the  proposal  of  emancipating  and  deporting  the 
slaves  of  the  South.  If  it  be  urged  that  the  free 


149 

blacks  have  a  right  to  choose  for  themselves,  and 
decline  emigration,  it  may  be  answered,  that,  if  the 
slave  has  a  right  to  freedom,  he  may  demand  it 
unconditionally,  and  would  be  equally  averse  to 
leaving  his  native  land.  Unless  the  scheme  of  colo 
nization  can  offer  advantages  sufficient  to  invite  emi 
gration,  it  must  be  abandoned,  or  sustained  by  coer 
cive  transportation,  and  in  reference  to  the  adoption 
of  such  measures,  the  different  sections  of  our  coun 
try  are  situated  alike.  If  the  deportation  of  the 
blacks  be  expedient,  practicable,  and  proper,  let  the 
North  so  approve  it  by  the  colonization  of  their 
blacks — and  the  South  will  be  then  better  enabled 
to  determine  upon  the  scheme. 

We  cannot,  however,  dismiss  this  subject,  without 
doing  justice  to  the  motives  and  feelings  of  the  found 
ers  and  friends  of  colonization.  The  scheme  was 
conceived  in  an  anxious  and  enlarged  spirit  of  pa 
triotism.  Its  objects  are  such  as  appeal,  with  irre 
sistible  force,  to  the  heart  of  every  American,  Chris 
tian,  and  philanthropist.  Its  friends  have  manifested 
in  its  support  a  zeal,  liberality,  and  disinterestedness 
which  cannot  be  sufficiently  praised.  That  such  a 
scheme  should  have  received,  from  the  voluntary 
contributions  of  individuals,  a  sufficient  sum  to  ad 
vance  it  to  its  present  stage,  is  a  fact  honourable  to 
the  American  people;  and  those  who  have  yielded 
the  colony,  in  this  country,  their  disinterested  sup 
port — those  who  have,  on  the  pestilential  shores  of 
Africa,  fallen  victims  to  the  cause — merit  the  grati 
tude  and  veneration  of  every  friend  of  humanity. 
Time  must  determine  the  success  of  their  efforts; 
but  of  their  justice,  purity,  and  patriotism,  the  white 
man  and  the  slave,  the  North  and  South,  America 
and  Africa,  will  unite  to  bear  grateful  testimony. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


•Abolition  of  Slavery  in  the  United  States.     Ob 
jects  and  designs  of  the  Abolitionists. 

WE  will  now  consider  the  scheme  of  emancipa 
tion — a  scheme  which,  but  a  few  years  since,  found 
our  country  united,  tranquil  and  happy,  and  which, 
in  that  brief  period,  has  planted  in  her  bosom  dis 
trust,  jealousy,  rage  and  terror — which  has  endan 
gered  the  industry  of  the  North,  the  security  of  life 
in  the  South,  and  has  shaken  to  its  very  centre  the 
Government  of  our  common  country. 

The  object  of  those  who  have  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  slave  is  averred  to  be  emancipation.  They 
pronounce  his  bondage  a  sin  against  heaven,  and 
claim  the  freedom  of  every  negro  in  the  country — 
young  and  old,  male  and  female,  ignorant  and  edu 
cated.  Universal  and  sweeping  emancipation  is  the 
object  of  their  efforts;  and  they  express  their  de 
termination  never  to  remit  their  exertions  until  the 
two  millions  of  slaves  in  the  South  are  released 
from  all  restraint. 

This  emancipation  is  claimed  immediately. 
They  will  not  submit  to  any  gradual  measures  for 
the  attainment  of  their  wishes.  The  word  is  to  be 
spoken  by  these  necromancers  in  philanthropy,  and 
the  chains  of  the  2,250,000  slaves  are  to  be  shiver 
ed,  as  by  one  blow.  The  negro  is  to  be  instanta 
neously  released,  and  turned  forth,  without  the  in 
telligence  to  direct  his  conduct,  the  habits  of  self 


151 

restraint  to  withhold  him  from  the  brutal  gratifica 
tion  of  animal  passions,  or  even  the  means  of  sav 
ing  himself  from  starvation.  When  asked,  what 
will  be  the  consequences  of  so  mad  and  precipitate 
a  movement,  they  inform  us  that  consequences  do 
not  enter  into  their  calculations — slavery  is  a  sin,  of 
which  the  slave-holder  should  repent,  not  gradually, 
but  at  once — the  consequences  of  his  repentance 
rest  with  Providence.  That  we  may  not  misrepre 
sent  their  views  on  this  important  point,  we  give 
the  following  extract  from  one  of  the  publications 
of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society. 

"  The,  safety  of  the  remedy. 

4  Oh,  but  immediate  emancipation  would  be  un 
safe, — -the  slave  would  butcher  his  master  and  fill 
the  land  with  rapine  and  murder.' 

Suppose,  said  Mr.  S.  the  intelligence  should 
reach  this  city  to-day  that  the  slaves  had  risen  in 
insurrection  and  were  scattering  dismay  and  death 
through  the  South.  Would  not  the  veriest  child 
know  the  cause?  6  THEY  ARE  FIGHTING  FOR  THEIR 
FREEDOM'  would  be  the  universal  cry.  Give  the 
slave  his  freedom,  then;  will  he  fight  because  you 
give  it  to  him?  First,  he  fights  because  he  is  robbed 
of  liberty,  and  when  it  is  restored,  he  fights  because 
he's  got  it." 

The  following  is  from  the  Anti-Slavery  Re 
porter: — "Gradual  Abolition,  an  indefinite  term, 
but  which  is  understood  to  imply  the  draining  away 
drop  by  drop  of  the  great  ocean  of  wrongs, — pluck 
ing  off  at  long  intervals  some  straggling  branches 
of  the  moral  Upas — holding  out  to  unborn  gene 
rations  the  shadow  of  a  hope  which  the  present 
may  never  feel, — gradually  ceasing  to  do  evil; 
gradually  refraining  from  robbery,  lust  and  murder: 


152 

— in  brief,  obeying  a  short-sighted  and  criminal 
policy  rather  than  the  commands  of  God." 

The  immediate  emancipation,  thus  claimed  for 
the  blacks,  is  required  to  be  unconditional.  They 
admit  no  restraint  upon  the  negro.  He  is  to  be 
turned  loose  at  once.  No  barrier,  no  bond,  no 
check, — nothing  to  guard  the  negroes  from  their 
own  improvidence  and  passions,  nothing  to  protect 
the  master  or  his  wife  and  daughters  from  the  savage 
passions,  the  lust,  revenge  and  cruelty  of  the  brutal 
and  unchained  slave.  The  abolitionists  have  no 
doubt  read  of  the  Roman  Senators  who  opened  their 
gates  to  the  Gauls,  and  received  them  in  state,  ex 
pecting  to  subdue  their  fierce  passions  into  awe  and 
gentleness;  they  have  perhaps  heard  also  of  the  fana 
tic,  who,  in  the  confidence  of  religious  insanity, 
caused  himself  to  be  exposed  to  lions.  They  have, 
however,  it  seems,  forgotten  that  the  Romans  were 
slaughtered  and  their  city  burned;  and  that  the  poor 
bigot  was  devoured  without  scruple  by  the  hungry 
lions.  They  would,  with  the  same  confidence  and 
the  same  wisdom,  unloose  the  ignorant  negro  upon 
the  fair  and  gentle  ones  of  the  South,  and,  stand 
ing  at  a  safe  distance,  would  watch  the  result  of 
the  fearful  experiment! 

The  following  is  another  extract  from  the  publi 
cation  quoted  above. 

"  Turning  loose. 

1  But  would  you  turn  the  slave  loose?'  Loose! 
What  does  the  objector  mean?  Turn  the  slave 
loose!  No.  We  turn  freemen  loose.  We  dont  un 
chain  the  tiger,  but  we  strike  off  his  chain,  and  by 
that  act  make  him  a  lamb,  and  then  turn  him  loose." 

Such  is  the  childish  and  wretched  device  by 
which  the  abolitionists  evade  an  objection  so  start 
ling,  so  awful,  so  full  of  calamity  to  the  race,  that 


153 

it  would  shake  a  fiend  from  his  purpose,  and  visit  his 
bosom  with  the  strugglings  of  remorse  and  com 
passion.  The  abolitionist,  however,  when  told  that 
he  is  about  to  deluge  his  native  land  with  blood, 
receives  the  warning  with  a  quibble,  and  turns  tran 
quilly  to  his  work  of  horror. 

The  emancipation,  thus  urged,  is  expected  to  be 
attained  without  compensation  to  the  master.  It  is 
of  no  consequence  that  not  merely  individuals,  but 
States,  wrould  be  thus  beggared;  that  those  gentle 
beings,  who  have  been  nurtured  with  all  the  soli 
citude  of  affection,  and  treated  with  the  homage  of 
Southern  chivalry — that  those  fair  creatures,  whose 
guardians 

Would  not  permit  the  winds  of  Heaven 
Visit  their  cheeks  too  roughly, — 

thus  fostered,  are,  by  Northern  philanthropists  to  be 
plunged  into  the  most  sordid  poverty,  and,  as  they 
are  inferior  to  the  blacks  in  capacity  for  toil,  to  be 
degraded  beneath  those  who  have  heretofore  minis 
tered  to  their  wants.  The  slave-holder,  says  the 
abolitionist,  is  a  "robber,"  a  "  felon,"  a  "  man- 
stealer,"  &c.,  and  has  no  right  to  expect  that,  when 
deprived  of  his  victim,  he  will  be  paid  for  his  past 
crimes  in  the  shape  of  compensation  or  ransom! 
The  fanatics  are  marvellously  philanthropic:  they 
would  beggar  and  ruin  the  citizens  of  the  South  to 
realize  their  childish  abstractions;  but  have  not  yet 
attained  that  point  of  delusion  which  would  prompt 
them  to  bear  a  share  of  the  burthen.  Men  can 
afford  to  be  charitable,  who  give  away  the  property 
of  others;  and  none  urge  self-denial  so  ardently  as 
those  who  are  not  called  upon  to  participate  in  the 
sacrifice.  The  abolitionists,  in  advocating  emanci 
pation  without  compensation,  do  not  forget,  but  do 
not  regard,  the  fact,  that  the  slaves  have  fallen  into 


154 

the  hands  of  their  present  owners  as  proper iy, 
that  the  laws  of  the  Southern  States,  the  laws  of 
the  General  Government,  and  even  the  laws  of  the 
Northern  States,  regard  them  and  respect  them,  as 
property.  These  facts  are  wholly  immaterial  to 
the  abolitionists.  The  obligation  of  justice,  the 
sanction  of  the  laws,  the  rights  of  humanity,  are 
subjects  of  equal  indifference  to  those  who  are  pre 
pared  to  stride  over  the  graves  of  millions  of  their 
brethren,  over  the  ruins  of  their  Government  and 
country,  to  the  consummation  of  their  visionary 
and  perilous  schemes. 

But  the  abolitionists  do  not  pause  at  emancipa 
tion.  Their  demands  go  further.  They  require 
for  the  slave,  not  merely  his  freedom,  but  an  elevation 
to  all  the  political  privileges  of  his  master.  It  may 
be  observed  that  the  abolition  party  is  constituted 
mostly  of  men,  who  are  opposed  to  an  extension  of 
the  political  powers  of  the  whites,  to  universal  suf 
frage,  and  to  that  policy  which  contemplates  politi 
cal  equality;  they  have  generally  been  found  op 
posed  to  what  are  considered  the  liberal  doctrines 
and  measures  of  this  country,  and  are,  in  some  cases, 
the  remains  of  those  who  opposed  the  American 
revolution:  yet,  when  the  blacks  are  interested, 
their  fears  of  popular  power  vanish;  the  ignorance 
of  the  blacks,  their  incapacity,  their  want  of  politi 
cal  or  moral  principles  constitute  no  objections  to 
their  political  elevation.  This  disposition,  it  will 
be  seen,  is  manifested  throughout,  by  the  abolition 
ists.  They  have,  from  some  strange  perversion  of 
nature,  acquired  an  affection  for  the  black  which 
has  blunted  their  sensibilities  for  their  own  race; 
and,  in  case  of  opposing  interests,  they  uniformly 
espouse  the  cause  of  the  negro  against  the  white  man. 

In  claiming,  for  the  blacks  of  the  South,  political 
equality  with  the  whites,  they  of  course  include  the 


155 

right  of  arming  and  disciplining  themselves.  The  ne 
groes  might, therefore,immediately  after  the  consum 
mation  of  the  abolitionist's  designs,  meet  and  make  ar 
rangements  for  the  military  execution  of  the  whites. 
With  the  sanction  of  the  law,  with  arms,  ammuni 
tion,  discipline,  and  savage  ferocity,  they  would  pro 
bably  outdo  the  horrors  of  St.  Domingo.  But  what 
is  that  to  the  pious  abolitionists? 

The  right  of  suffrage,  and  the  right  to  hold  office, 
are  of  course  included  in  the  benevolent  scheme  of 
the  fanatics.  The  first  fruits  of  abolition  would  be 
the  extensive  emigration  of  the  whites.  The  blacks 
would  be  thus  rendered  a  majority;  and  going  to 
the  polls  with  their  prejudice  against  the  rival  race, 
(a  prejudice  which  no  power  under  Heaven  has  re 
moved,  or  can  remove,  in  any  country)  the  whole 
civil  and  military  power  would  fall  into  their  hands. 
Of  the  extent  of  their  qualifications  for  the  safe  ex 
ercise  of  this  power,  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak;  but 
with  this  mass  of  ignorance,  prejudice  and  savage 
passion  in  the  high  places  of  the  Southern  Govern 
ments,  what  would  become  of  the  whites?  The  abo 
litionists  neither  know  nor  care.  Nor  is  the  North 
wholly  uninterested  in  this  view  of  the  case.  A 
number  of  the  States  of  our  republic  would  become 
negro  communities;  they  would  send  black  repre 
sentatives  into  Congress;  and  as  they  would,  pro 
bably,  by  their  close  union  against  the  whites,  attain 
great  power,  they  might  give  us  a  black  President. 
"To  this  COMPLEXION  must  we  come  at  last!" 

Should  the  reader  be  incredulous  on  the  points 
referred  to,  should  he  consider  it  impossible  that  hu 
man  delusion,  even  under  the  impulses  of  a  heady 
fanaticism,  can  rush  into  absurdities  so  gross,  and 
disgusting,  we  will,  to  determine  his  doubts,  refer 
him  to  the  organs  of  the  party,  to  the  declarations 
of  their  conventions,  to  the  resolutions  of  their 


156  I 

meetings,  to  the  articles  of  their  Constitutions,  and 
to  the  freely  expressed  sentiments  of  the  advocates 
and  supporters  of  the  abolition  scheme. 

Another  object  has  been  extensively  attributed  to 
them.  We  refer  to  the  sexual  amalgamation  of  the 
two  races.  We  are  unwilling  to  press  this  charge. 
The  design,  has,  without  a  doubt,  been  freely  avow 
ed  by  some  individuals  among  the  abolitionists,  and 
tacitly  countenanced  by  many  more.  It  is  well 
known,  that  in  New  York  the  prominent  and 
wealthy  advocates  of  abolition  have  given  dinners, 
and  other  parties,  at  which  the  sexes,  and  races  were 
studiously  mingled.  It  is  well  known,  that  the 
social  habits  of  many  encourage  the  most  intimate, 
equal,  and  familiar  intercourse  between  the  two 
colours  of  different  sexes.  It  is  well  known,  that 
matrimonial  connexions  of  the  unnatural  character 
referred  to,  have  not  been  discouraged;  and  that, 
though  the  abolitionists  have  been  frequently  and 
forcibly  charged  with  the  design  of  encouraging 
such  connexions,  their  denials  have  been  but  late, 
faint,  and  partial.*  From  all  these  facts  it  is  diffi 
cult  to  escape  the  belief  that  the  abolitionists,  if  not 
decidedly  and  actively  favourable  to  amalgamation, 
are  by  no  means  opposed  to  it. 

*  "  Let  it  be  the  glory  of  our  SONS  AND  DAUGHTERS,"  says 
one  of  the  reports  of  Anti-Slavery  Society,  "  to  have  been 
educated  in  Seminaries  which  were  open  to  worthy  appli 
cants,  without  regard  to  complexion." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


Character  of  Prominent  Abolitionists — Garrison, 
Tappan,  Thompson,  &c. — General  character  of 
the  party. 

BUT  a  few  years  have  elapsed  since  the  com 
mencement  of  the  abolition  movement.  It  origi 
nated  in  a  few  heated  and  disturbed  minds,  and  was 
urged  in  the  face  of  every  obstacle.  Wm.  Lloyd 
Garrison,  Lundy,  and  some  others,  who  conceived 
themselves  the  chosen  instruments  of  accomplish 
ing  abolition,  proclaimed  their  peculiar  doctrines 
with  an  ardour,  which,  if  it  did  not  excite  respect, 
at  least  attracted  attention.  Garrison,  the  most 
talented  and  rabid  of  the  corps,  soon  became  noto 
rious.  In  the  fury  of  his  zeal  he  did  not  scruple 
to  borrow  the  aid  of  fiction;  arid,  at  times,  indulged 
his  talent  for  invective,  at  the  expense  of  truth,  and 
of  the  character  of  respectable  citizens.  The  diffi 
culties  into  which  this  unfortunate  propensity 
plunged  him,  only  excited  his  ardour  anew.  The 
strict  confinement  and  low  diet  to  which  the  ir- 
reverend  administrators  of  the  law  consigned  him, 
did  not  allay  the  violence  of  his  zeal.  He  regarded 
his  misfortune  as  a  partial  martyrdom.  It  certain 
ly  had  one  advantage — it  lifted  him  to  an  elevation 
which,  like  that  of  the  pillory,  rendered  him  the 
observed  of  all  observers.  He  renewed  his  denun 
ciations  with  spirit.  He  raved,  and  the  world  laugh- 
14 


159 

ed;  but  in  the  end  he  proved  that,  so  ricketty  and  un 
stable  a  thing  is  the  world,  even  the  efforts  of  a 
madman  can  disturb  it.  He  gained  disciples — what 
fanatic  ever  raved  without  converts? — and  soon  be 
came  an  object  of  attention  to  the  crack-brained 
enthusiasts  and  antiquated  ladies  of  the  whole  land. 
The  Colonization  Society  had,  by  agitating  the  sub 
ject,  prepared  the  country  for  the  coming  of  this 
second  Peter  the  Hermit;  and  the  crusade  preached 
by  him  against  the  institutions  of  the  South,  found 
supporters  and  advocates.  At  length,  he  enlisted  a 
sufficient  force  in  behalf  of  abolition,  to  enable  him 
to  visit  England,  and  crave  foreign  influence  against 
the  laws  and  lives  of  his  fellow  countrymen.  Eng 
land  was  herself  reeling  under  the  potions  of 
quacks  and  enthusiasts,  and  lent  a  willing  ear  to  the 
crazed  abstractions,  wild  appeals,  and  exaggerated 
statements,  of  Garrison.  He  found  himself  in  his 
element.  He  preached  against  his  country  to  ap 
plauding  multitudes;  he  denounced  Washington  as 
a  robber,  because  a  slave-holder;  characterized  the 
American  Constitution  as  a  guilty  and  blood-stained 
instrument,  because  it  recognized  the  domestic  laws 
of  the  South;  and,  in  short,  indulged,  to  his  heart's 
content,  in  foul  and  frothy  invective  against  all  that 
is  dear  and  sacred  to  Americans.  Having  suffi 
ciently  blackened  his  country  abroad,  he  returned 
to  renew  his  treasonable  efforts  at  home.  He  was 
received  by  the  fanatics  with  rapture;  and  the  work 
was  resumed  with  fresh  ardour.  The  efforts  of 
these  conspirators,  at  their  midnight  meetings, 
where  the  bubbling  cauldron  of  abolition  was  filled 
with  its  pestilential  materials,  arid  the  fire  beneath 
kindled  by  the  breath  of  the  fanatics,  has  often  re 
minded  us  of  the  witch  scene  in  Macbeth.  Their 
chorus  is  peculiarly  in  character  for  the  amalgama- 
tionists. 


159 

"  Black  spirits  and  white, 

Red  spirits  and  gray, 
Mingle,  mingle,  mingle, 

You  that  mingle  may." 

It  requires  no  excited  imagination  to  conceive 
them  gathered  in  their  secret  councils,  where,  at 
first,  a  few  half-crazed  enthusiasts,  with  a  bevy  of 
female  fanatics,  met  to  hatch  and  prepare  this  pre 
cious  scheme.  In  such  a  conclave,  assembled  for 
such  a  purpose,  the  incantation  of  the  scene  referred 
to,  would  have  been  wholly  appropriate. 

"  For  a  charm  of  powerful  trouble, 
Like  a  hell-broth,  boil  and  bubble. 
Double,  double,  toil  and  trouble, 
Fire  burn  and  cauldron  bubble  !" 

In  these  scenes  we  may  suppose  that  Garrison, 
gloomy,  wild,  and  malignant,  was  the  ruling  spirit. 
His  religious  madness,  his  vehement  cant  and  vio 
lence  of  spirit  naturally  gained  for  him  the  mastery 
in  their  councils.  Whatever  may  be  the  character 
of  his  coadjutors,  Garrison  has,  in  his  whole  career, 
betrayed  the  worst  purposes  allied  to  the  worst 
passions.  His  writings  have  been  blackened  with 
the  vilest  slanders,  and  the  most  vindictive  abuse. 
Indeed,  so  vehement,  rancorous  and  fiend-like  have 
been  his  exhibitions  of  passion  against  his  oppo 
nents,  that  most  persons  have  considered,  and  do 
still  consider,  him  insane.  It  is  a  probable  and 
certainly  a  charitable  supposition;  for  if  he  is  to  be 
considered  as  strictly  accountable  for  his  ravings,  he 
must  be  held  in  general  execration.  The  following 
extract  from  his  writings  is  a  specimen  of  his  style, 
and  certainly  affords  no  evidence  of  the  soundness 
of  either  his  head  or  his  heart.  He  addresses  the 
slave-holders.  The  reader  will  be  reminded  of  the 
celebrated  sermon  of  Maw-worm. 


160 

"  Ye  crafty  calculators!  Ye  hard-hearted  incor 
rigible  sinners!  Ye  greedy  and  relentless  robbers! 
Ye  contemners  of  justice  and  mercy!  Ye  trembling, 
pitiful,  pale-faced  usurpers!  My  soul  spurns  you 
with  unspeakable  disgust!" 

The  style  of  Garrison  is  turgid,  but  often  effec 
tive.  His  compositions  appear  intended  to  operate 
principally  upon  the  ignorant  blacks;  and  are  filled 
with  declamation,  denunciation  and  cant.  In  abus 
ing  his  opponents,  he  exhibits  a  frantic  and  frontless 
disregard  of  the  decencies  of  the  press.  In  advo 
cating  his  doctrines,  he  pauses  at  no  difficulty.  If 
good  men  sanction  slavery — they  are  robbers;  if 
the  Constitution  maintains  it — it  must  be  crushed; 
if  the  Union  is  an  obstacle — it  must  be  overthrown. 
He  never  writes  without  raving;  he  even  reasons 
like  a  bedlamite;  and  in  his  paper,  which  has  great 
influence  over  the  blacks,  he  has  done  much  to  ex 
cite  a  spirit  of  insubordination  and  violence. 

Until  recently,  these  outrages  were  allowed  to 
pass  unpunished;  but  the  time  has  at  length  arrived 
when  a  wronged  and  insulted  people  will  no  longer 
permit  these  madmen  to  tamper  with  the  peace  and 
welfare  of  our  country.  The  citizens  of  Boston 
recently  took  possession  of  the  person  of  Garrison, 
with  a  view  to  summary  punishment,  and  were  only 
deterred  by  compassion,  from  bestowing  on  him 
the  honorary  ointment  and  robe  which  has,  time 
immemorial,  been  decreed  in  the  East  to  traitors. 
He  was,  however,  committed  to  prison  as  a  pro 
tection  from  the  just  indignation  of  the  people,  and 
in  the  morning  escaped  from  the  city  in  disguise. 

Perhaps,  after  Garrison,  the  noted  Arthur  Tap- 
pan  solicits  the  next  place  in  the  roll  of  the  aboli 
tionists.  He  is  a  well  known  and  wealthy  mer 
chant  of  New  York,  who  has  become  affluent  by 


161 

the  patronage  of  those  whom  he  is  so  eager  to  ex 
pose  to  the  horrors  of  a  servile  insurrection.  He 
is  generally  described  as  an  amiable,  weak,  well- 
meaning  man,  whose  limited  portion  of  intellect 
has  been  turned  topsy-turvy  by  religious  excite 
ment  He  has  not  sufficient  mind  to  originate,  or 
resist,  any  religious  delusion.  He  is  made  the  dupe 
of  every  fanatic  or  impostor,  who  thunders  religious 
denunciations  in  his  ears.  New  York  appears  to 
have  been  for  some  years  afflicted  with  a  prevailing 
tendency  to  fanaticism.  Not  a  fanatic  so  stupid, 
but  in  New  York  he  could  find  admirers;  not  an 
impostor  so  degraded,  but  in  New  York  he  could 
enlist  followers.  Nor  has  this  weakness  been  con 
fined  to  the  ignorant  alone.  Col.  Stone's  life  of 
Matthias,  informs  us,  that  the  delusion  has  ascend 
ed  to  the  very  highest  ranks  of  society;  and 
even  Matthias  found  his  dupes  and  victims  among 
the  intelligent  and  wealthy  merchants  of  New 
York.  Of  this  class  of  fanatics,  perhaps  the  most 
distinguished  is  the  President  of  A.  A.  S.  Society. 
The  able  and  fearless  editor  of  the  New  York 
Courier  and  Enquirer,  a  print  that  merits  the  grati 
tude  of  every  Southron,  for  its  early,  consistent  and 
inflexible  opposition  to  the  abolitionists,  in  an  article 
on  Fanaticism,  holds  the  following  language. 

"Let  our  fathers  of  families — our  upright,  ho 
nest  educated,  thousands  be  convinced,  and  act 
while  there  is  yet  time  for  action!  Let  them  shut 
up  the  doors  of  their  houses,  and  of  their  hearts, 
against  all  fanatics,  for  all  are  evil — all  are  mad ! 
Whether  beginning  by  advocating  the  claims,  which 
all  good  men  allow,  of  temperance,  they  proceed 
from  step  to  step,  till  they  reach  the  mad  insanity 
of  stigmatising  the  Redeemer — like  the  Pharisees 
of  old,  as  a  wine-bibber  and  a  glutton.  Whether 
14* 


162 

starting  with  a  society  for  the  suppression  of  prosti 
tution,  they  end  by  advocating  promiscuous  inter 
course   and    unlimited    concubinage! — or  whether, 
pretending  a  zeal  for  the  unhappy  negroes,  they 
tread  the  path  that  must  inevitably  lead  to  discord, 
and  to  civil  war,  with  all  its  kindred  horrors  of 
rape,  and  sack  and  slaughter.     And  let  them  hear 
this  too,  those  who  deem  it  unconstitutional  and  un 
just  to  crush  this  reptile  in  the  egg — let  them  hear 
this!     The  man  who  set  on   foot   the   madness  of 
Matthias,  and   the  man  who  is  now  whetting  my 
riads  of  swords  for  civil  massacre,  from  one  end  to 
the  other  of  these  powerful   and   peaceful   United 
States,  is  ONE  AND  THE  SAME!  Tappan  the  founder 
of  the  Magdalen  Societies  of  1832 — the  causer  of 
McDowalPs    infamous    publications — the    original 
head  of  that  sect  whence  sprung  the  followers  of 
Matthias;  Tappan  the  head  of  the  abolition  societies 
of  1835! — whither  his  teachings  led  in  the  first  in 
stance,  we  have  seen; — whither  his  teachings  now 
shall  lead  futurity  alone  can  prove,  although  it  needs 
no  prophet's  eye  to  pierce  the  secret. 

"0!  if  that  man  be  virtuous — if  he  have  a  heart 
— if  he  have  human  feeling — let  him  pause.  He 
has  seen,  he  must  knoiu  the  results  of  that  mad 
zeal,  which  he  then  set  on  foot,  although  we  well 
believe,  he  dreamed  not  of  its  terrible  effects.  He 
has  witnessed  the  guilt  of  those  wretched  victims — 
and  his  own  heart,  his  own  conscience — if  he  have 
a  heart,  or  conscience — must  tell  him  that  he  is  in 
truth  the  origin  of  all  this  ruin.  And  if  it  be  so — 
if  the  religious  zeal  to  which  he  then,  piously  we 
will  believe  and  for  good  purposes,  gave  its  first 
stimulus,  has  produced  results  the  most  opposite  to 
his  intentions; — if  it  has  disappointed  his  wishes, 
while  it  has  confirmed  the  opinions  all  wise  men 


163 

even  then  entertained  of  it, — will  he  not  pause,  and 
consider — that  this  cry  of  abolition,  to  which  he 
has  now  piously  and  for  good  purposes,  given  its 
first  stimulus,  may  in  like  manner  produce  results 
the  most  opposite  to  his  intentions; — may  in  like 
manner  disappoint  his  wishes,  and  confirm  the  pre 
sent  predictions  of  all,  who  are  not,  like  him,  blind 
ed  by  overweening  confidence  in  their  own  self- 
idolizing  sanctity." 

It  may  be  doubted,  notwithstanding  Mr.  Tap- 
pan's  fanaticism,  whether  his  piety  would  have 
pressed  him  into  so  conspicuous  a  station  among 
the  abolitionists,  had  not  another  passion  pleaded  in 
its  favour.  Weak  men  are  generally  vain.  Inca 
pable  of  great  or  useful  ambition;  they  cherish  a 
pruriency  for  praise,  or  an  anxiety  to  escape  from 
their  natural  insignificance,  by  notoriety  of  any 
kind.  Even  abuse  is  grateful  to  them,  for  it  is  an 
acknowledgment  of  their  importance;  the  praise 
and  censure  incurred  by  Mr.  Tappan  are  acceptable 
incense  to  him,  and  are  purchased  cheaply  by  his 
large  contributions  to  the  abolitionists.  He  finds 
himself  rendered,  by  his  connection  with  them,  "  a 
marvellous  proper  man,"  and  clings  with  delight  to 
a  cause  which  has  ministered  so  successfully  to  the 
little  vanity  of  a  feeble  and  contracted  mind. 

Ourattention  is  next  directed  to  George  Thompson, 
occasionally  dignified  with  the  title  of  the  Reverend 
George  Thompson,  and  otherwise  simply  designat 
ed  as  George  Thompson,  Esquire,  from  England. 
Who,  it  will  be  asked,  is  this  foreigner,  and  what 
does  he  here?  The  answer  will  flush  every  Ameri 
can  cheek  with  shame  and  indignation. — 

The  first  knowledge  we  have  of  Thompson,  is  as 
lecturer  in  England  on  Slavery  in  this  country. 
How  he  acquired  any  knowledge  of  the  subject,  or 
how  he  was  interested  in  it,  we  are  left  to  conjee- 


164 

ture.  But  we  see  by  the  Manchester  Times,  of 
August  2,  1834,  that  Thompson,  at  a  great  meeting 
in  that  city  asserted  that  a  slave-holder  in  this  coun 
try,  possessing  five  hundred  slaves,  in  addition  to 
his  own  vote,  threw  into  the  ballot  box  three  hun 
dred  more  to  represent  three  fifths  of  his  property. 
His  geography  appears  to  have  been  equal  to  his 
other  accomplishments,  as  he  gravely  informed  that 
intelligent  audience,  that  the  United  States  "consist 
ed  of  twenty-four  states  exclusive  of  three  small 
Districts  called  Columbia,"  and  detailed  the  manner 
in  which  "slaves  were  smuggled  up  the  rivers  of 
that  territory  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  mar 
kets!"  But  plain  misrepresentation  constitutes  but 
a  slight  portion  of  his  claims  to  our  regard.  The 
burthen  of  his  song  in  England  was  abuse  of  this 
country.*  Among  other  matters  he  stated,  upon 

*  The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  letter,  from  a  highly  re 
spectable  gentleman  in  Manchester,  England,  and  was  origi 
nally  published  in  the  New  York  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

"  Manchester  July  29,  1834. 

Dear  Sir: — My  object  in  writing  at  the  present  time  is  to 
inform  you  that  a  vile  Fanatic  by  the  name  of  THOMPSON,  is 
about  to  visit  the  United  States,  under  the  patronage  of  (as 
I  am  informed)  Mr.  Arthur  Tappan,  and  a  few  men  of  that 
clique. 

Mr.  Thompson  gave  a  lecture  last  evening  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  slavery  in  America,  during  which  he  took  occasion  to 
SLANDER  the  country  MOST  VILELY,  and  told  many  false 
hoods  too  gross  to  be  repeated.  Mr.  B.  W.  Richards,  (the  late 
respected  Mayor  of  Philadelphia,)  was  present,  and  told  me 
this  day  that  he  was  upon  the  point  of  getting  up  and  telling 
him  his  statements  were  false,  but  was  only  restrained  from 
so  doing  by  being  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land.  My  only 
object  in  writing  you  is  to  inform  you  and  the  intelligent 
readers  of  your  paper,  that  Mr.  Thompson  embarks  in  the 
ship  United  States,  (the  packet  of  the  8th  August)  and  put 
them  on  their  guard  against  his  proceedings.  1  am  as  much 


165 

one  occasion,  that  female  slaves  were  publicly  sold  by 
weight  in  this  country;  and  scrupled  not  to  make 
the  institutions  of  the  United  States  the  subject  of 
the  most  vehement  abuse.  So  much  for  his  public 
character.  It  may  now  be  well  to  inquire  into  the 
private  standing  of  this,  favourite  and  foreign  malig- 
ner  of  our  people  and  institutions.  The  individual 
who  has  the  presumption  to  land  upon  our  shores, 
and  go  from  city  to  city  to  denounce  our  people 
and  laws,  should  be  immaculate  himself — elevated  so 
far  above  ordinary  humanity,  as  to  be  worthy  to  re 
buke  even  the  most  exalted  of  his  fellow  beings. 
What  are  the  facts?  From  rumours  afloat,  in  rela 
tion  to  his  former  character,  it  was  considered  ne 
cessary  to  make  some  inquiries  in  his  native  coun 
try.  The  following  paragraph,  extracted  from  a 
respectable  daily  journal  of  Philadelphia,  will  ex 
hibit  the  result  of  this  investigation. 

"SERIOUS  CHARGE. — The  Editor  of  the  New 
York  Commercial  Advertiser,  says  that  he  is  au 
thorized  to  state  that  the  proofs  of  Mr.  George 
Thompson's  embezzlement  of  moneys  from  Messrs. 
Marshal  &  Dale,  of  London,  for  which  he  was  dis 
missed  from  their  employ,  and  but  for  their  forbear 
ance  would  have  been  sent  on  a  mission  to  Botany 
Bay,  as  also  the  proofs  of  his  expulsion  from  the 
literary  and  scientific  institutions.  &c.,  have  arrived, 
and  may  be  seen  in  the  hands  of  James  Jarret,  Esq. 
They  are  in  the  shape  of  affidavits,  taken  before 
Thomas  Aspinwall,  Esq.  U.  S.  consul  for  the  city 
of  London." 

From  this  it  appears,  that  the  man  who  has  arro- 


opposed  to  slavery  as  Mr.  Thompson  or  any  other  person  can 
be,  yet  I  am  not  willing  that  he  or  any  other  foreigner  should 
interfere  in  our  concerns  at  all.  Very  respectfully,  Your 
obedient  servant." 


166 

gantly  presumed  to  stand  upon  our  own  soil  and 
malign  the  people  and  institutions  of  our  country,  is 
a  vagabond,  an  outcast,  a  felon,  one  who  owes  his 
exemption  from  the  most  infamous  penalty  of  the 
English  laws,  not  to  his  innocence,  out  to  the  for 
bearance  of  those  from  whom  he  embezzled  money! 
How,  it  will  be  asked,  did  Thompson  assume  his 
present  prominent  position  in  relation  to  the  aboli 
tion  movement?     When  Garrison  was  in  England, 
an  arrangement  was  made  with  individuals  in  that 
country,  to  obtain  for  their  designs  English  co-ope 
ration.     It    will    be    seen    hereafter,    that   English 
funds  and  English  influence  are  at  work  to  disturb 
and  distract  this  country.  Thompson  was  considered 
a  suitable  agent  for  such  a  design.     Fluent,  decla 
matory,  impudent,  and  unscrupulous,  he  was  pecu 
liarly  qualified  for  the  task  of  fomenting  discord 
among   our    citizens,  and    insurrection    among   the 
slaves.     He  was,  therefore,  chosen  as  agent  by  a 
British  society,  and  sent  over  for  the  express  and  ex 
clusive  purpose  of  agitating  this  country  on  the  sub 
ject  of  slavery. 

On  his  arrival,  he  was  received  with  open  arms, 
and  caressed  and  honoured  by  Tappan,  Garrison, 
Cox,  and  their  brethren.  He  immediately  com 
menced  operations;  and  has  already  traversed  a 
large  portion  of  the  North,  preaching  opposition 
to  the  existing  institutions  of  our  country. 

Such  are  the  singular  facts  connected  with  the 
public  mission  of  this  man.  A  wretch  who  has 
been  guilty  of  an  infamous  offence,  and  is  prepared 
for  any  act,  is  selected,  appointed,  and  paid  by  a 
British  society — for  what?  To  visit  our  country 
in  a  capacity  worse  than  that  of  the  spy,  to  foment 
discord  among  our  people,  array  brother  against 
brother,  and  father  against  son;  to  excite  treasonable 
opposition  to  our  government;  to  preach  hatred  and 


167 

hostility  against  our  sacred  Union;  to  excite  our 
slave  population  to  rise  and  butcher  their  masters; 
to  render  the  South  a  desert,  and  the  country  at 
large  the  scene  of  fraternal  war,  weakness,  suffering 
and  crime.  Such  is  his  errand  hither.  Can  the 
memory  of  the  reader  furnish  him  with  an  instance 
of  more  flagrant  violation  of  the  rights  of  an  inde 
pendent  nation — of  more  open,  gross,  and  insulting 
outrage  on  national  intelligence,  spirit,  and  honor? 
England  has  wronged  us  heretofore — but  it  was  as 
an  open  foe;  and  as  an  open  and  honourable  foe  was 
she  met  and  chastised.  But  the  amount  of  former 
wrongs^-even  those  which  have  reddened  land  and 
sea  with  the  blood  of  our  people — is  trifling  com 
pared  with  the  injuries  contemplated  in  this  inter 
ference.  Mr.  Buckingham,  a  member  of  the  Eng 
lish  parliament,  lately  asserted  at  a  public  meeting — 
"  The  greater  proportion  of  the  people  of  England 
DEMAND  not  merely  emancipation,  but  the  im 
mediate  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  in  whatever 
quarter  of  the  world  they  may  be  found"  Mr. 
Thompson  is  the  bearer  of  these  DEMANDS! 
Daniel  O'Connell,  shortly  before  the  passage  of  the 
English  act  of  abolition,  declared  in  public:  "The 
West  Indies  will  be  obliged  to  grant  emancipation, 
and  then  WE  WILL  TURN  TO  AMERICA,  and  RE 
QUIRE  emancipation."  It  is  now  REQUIRED 
by  Mr.  Thompson,  the  British  agent!  The  cala 
mities  which  may  ensue  from  these  movements  are 
anticipated  with  pleasure,  rather  than  regret.  The 
insurrection  of  our  slaves,  and  the  agony  and  horror 
which  must  ensue — the  distraction  of  the  American 
people,  the  dissolution  of  the  American  Union,  the 
degradation  of  the  American  name — these  are  the 
aim  and  end  of  British  philanthropy.  In  what  spirit 
has  this  hostile  and  contemptuous  interference  been 


168 

received?  How  would  a  similar  wrong  have  been 
received  by  England?  Should  we  send  emissaries 
into  hapless  Ireland  to  excite  rebellion  and  war, 
how  would  they  be  treated?  They  would  be  con 
signed  to  the  keeping  of  the  gibbet.  Had  a  foreign 
power  sent  an  agent  into  this  country,  in  the  early 
days  of  the  republic,  to  foment  insurrection  and  dis 
cord,  how  would  our  fathers  have  received  him? 
They  would  have  regarded  him  as  too  offensive  for 
indifference,  yet  too  contemptible  for  serious  resent 
ment,  and  would  have  conferred  upon  him  the  ho 
nours  of  "  a  balmage  of  humble  tar,  and  a  hierogly 
phic  of  feathers."  Hoiv  have  their  descendants 
received  Thompson?  They  have  followed  him  by 
thousands;  listened,  in  silence,  while  the  pensioned 
felon  of  a  foreign  people  maligned  all  that  is  illus 
trious  in  our  annals,  cast  reproach  and  shame  upon 
our  country  and  her  institutions,  and  called  upon  our 
people  to  rise  and  trample  upon  the  rights  of  their 
brethren,  the  legacy  of  our  common  parentage,  the 
charter  of  our  common  country.  To  what  must  we 
ascribe  this  unworthy  conduct  upon  the  part  of  a 
portion  of  our  people?  To  a  respect  for  the  foreign 
agent — to  a  traitor  spirit  which  delights  in  the  dis 
grace  of  our  own  land — or  to  that  weakness  which, 
with  undistinguishing  credulity,  receives  and  reve 
rences  all  that  comes  from  those  who  wear  "  the 
livery  of  heaven,"  no  matter  for  what  purpose  assum 
ed,  and  use  the  cant  and  slang  of  hypocrisy,  however 
destitute  of  all  real  claims  to  confidence  or  respect? 
We  will  not  enter  further  into  an  account  of  the 
leaders  of  the  abolition  conspiracy.  It  is  unneces 
sary  to  describe  the  Reverend  Dr.  Beman  of  Troy, 
one  of  the  most  noisy  and  violent  of  the  canting 
supporters  of  abolition,  who  first  sold  out  his 
slaves,  and  then  denounced  those  "who  sell  the 


169 

image  of  Jesus."*     It  is   equally  unnecessary  to 
refer  particularly  to  the  Rev.   Dr.  Cox,  who  pro- 

*  The  following  is  an  extract  from  one  of  the  abolition 
speeches  of  Dr.  Beman. 

"  But,  I  have  heard  of  another  remedy  :  '  Just  leave  that 
question  to  the  slave  states.  What  have  we  of  the  North  to 
do  with  slavery1?'  But,  here  is  ground  for  caution.  Have 
not  we  at  the  North  our  share  in  the  government  of  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia]  Do  we  not  in  fact  govern  it.  Yet  that 
district  is  the  central  mart  of  the  traffic  in  human  flesh.  Yes, 
sir,  we  at  the  North  do  govern  slave  shambles.  Our  hands 
art  not  quite  so  clean  as  we  have  supposed. 

**  My  Southern  brethren  never  heard  me  slander  them.  I 
am  candid  on  this  subject.  Often  do  we  hear  it  said,  *  What 
do  Northern  people  know  about  slavery  V  Sir,  I  am  not  a 
stranger  to  slavery.  I  have  resided  eleven  years  at  the  South, 
and  three  or  four  winters  into  the  bargain;  and  I  know  some 
thing  about  it.  It  is  an  immense  evil.  I  can  go,  chapter 
and  verse,  with  the  able  document  that  has  just  been  read. 
It  is  even  so— the  very  picture  of  slavery.  Are  our  Southern 
brethren  infallible  1  They  are  very  kind-hearted  brethren: 
yet  some  of  them  SELL  THE  IMAGE  OF  JESUS  IN 
THEIR  SLAVES  !  Are  they  competent  judges  in  the  case? 
The  wise  man  says,  *  A  gift  blindeth  the  eyes.'  THEY 
JUDGE  WITH  THE  PRICE  OF  HUMAN  FLESH  IN 
THEIR  HANDS  !" 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  Bill  of  sale  executed  by  this 
same  Reverend  and  consistent  champion  of  abolition. 

State  of  Georgia,  7 

Hancock  county.  5  Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that 
I,  Nathan  S.  S.  Beman,  of  the  county  and  State  aforesaid, 
have  this  day  bargained  and  sold  to  Jacob  Wilcox  of  Savan 
nah,  of  the  said  state,  THREE  NEGRO  SLAVES,  viz. 
Cloe,  a  negro  woman,  about  thirty-four  years  of  age,  her  son 
George,  four  years  of  age,  and  her  daughter  Cuyline,  an  in 
fant,  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  SEVEN  HUN 
DRED  DOLLARS,  to  me  in  hand  paid,  the  receipt  and 
payment  of  which  sum  in  full  are  hereby  acknowledged  :  and 
I,  the  said  Nathan  S.  S.  Beman,  do  agree  to  warrant  and  de 
fend  the  right  of  the  aforesaid  negroes  to  him,  the  said  Jacob 
Wilcox,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  forever,  against  all  claims 
whatever. 
15 


170 

nounced  Jesus  Christ  a  coloured  man;  or  to  Mr. 
Thome  who  said— -"  The  slave  States  are  Sodoms 
and  almost  every  village  family  a  brothel.7'  Or  to 
the  Reverend  Mr.  May,  who  preaches  that  the  Con 
stitution  ought  to  be  violated  if  counter  to  what  he 
considers  the  will  of  Heaven;  or  to  scores  of  others, 
whose  violence  and  extravagance  have  excited,  in 
every  reasonable  citizen,  sentiments  of  alarm  and 
disgust. 

The  abolition  party  comprises  an  unusual  num 
ber  of  fervent  champions — men  accustomed  to 
speaking  and  writing,  and  possessed  of  influence 
and  resources  to  sustain  their  views.  They  are 
ardent,  active,  and  united.  Many  are  actuated  by 
honest  fanaticism;  others  are  impelled  by  a  sinister 
ambition,  by  hatred  of  the  South,  or  by  a  natural 
proneness,  "  to  make  trouble."  They  are  perse 
vering,  courageous  where  no  physical  danger  exists, 
and  determined,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter,  to  urge 
their  scheme  to  the  greatest  lengths.  Opposition 
has  naturally  increased  their  zeal,  until  in  the 
warmth  of  their  sympathy  for  the  negroes,  they 
have,  in  many  cases,  actually  imbibed  a  prejudice 
against  their  own  colour.  It  must  not  be  supposed 
that  their  support  of  their  Quixotical  plan  of  eman 
cipation  is  a  proof  of  benevolence  or  love  of  free 
dom.  A  knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  aboli 
tionists  will  dissipate  any  such  opinion.  They  have 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  affix 
ed  my  seal,  this  llth  day  of  April,  1822. 

NATHAN  S.  S.  BEMAN.  [L.  s.] 
Signed,  sealed  and  delivered 

in  presence  of 
Leavitt  Thaxter, 
Wm.  Greene  Macon,  1.  I.  C.J 

Registered  the  15th  June,  1822. 

PHIL.  L.  SIMMS,  Clerk  Sup'r.  Court. 


171 

taken  up  the  cause  from  various  motives,  and  now 
maintain  it  from  a  love  of  contest  and  of  notoriety, 
and  from  that  hair-brained  heat  and  invincible  ob 
stinacy  that  characterize  fanatical  warfare.  Marat, 
Robespierre,  and  the  monsters  of  the  French  reign 
of  terror,  were  among  the  first  and  most  devoted 
champions  of  abolition;  but  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  they  cherished  a  real  love  of  liberty  or  of 
man.  Enthusiasts  are  as  often  evil  as  good;  and 
when  a  cause  like  abolition  is  maintained  in  the 
face  of  an  affrighted  and  afflicted  country,  and 
against  the  remonstrances  and  prayers  of  the  best 
men  in  the  land,  the  fire  that  warms  the  hearts  of 
its  frantic,  angry,  and  head-strong  champions,  is  sel 
dom  caught  from  the  altars  of  the  Most  High. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Policy  of  Abolitionists — Agitation  in  the  North 
— in  the  South — with  the,  slave-holders — with 
Slaves — Fanaticism — Female  Influence —  Or 
ganization — Agents — Publications — Political 
Influence — Revolution  —  Disunion — Insurrec 
tion. 

THE  great  engine  by  which  the  abolitionists  ex 
pect  to  effect  their  designs,  is  agitation — not  reason 
— not  argument — not  candid  appeals  to  the  patriot 
ism  and  common  sense  of  our  people — but  agitation 
of  popular  prejudices  and  passions.  Their  first  effort 
is  to  raise  a  party  in  the  North.  They  admit,  for 
they  cannot  deny,  that  the  North  can,  under  the 
present  constitution,  have  no  control  over  the  insti 
tutions  of  the  South.  Why  then  agitate  it?  Why 
seek  to  excite  in  the  North  feelings  of  aversion  and 
hostility  against  the  South?  No  good  motive  can 
prompt  a  course  so  indirect  and  unnecessary.  This 
policy  is  pursued  for  the  purpose  of  perverting  the 
sentiments  and  feelings  of  the  North,  souring  its 
affection  for  the  South,  cooling  its  attachment  to  the 
Union,  and  urging  it  into  a  course  designed  to  force 
the  South  into  emancipation.  The  North  also  offers 
a  field  peculiarly  favourable  to  their  designs.  Here 
they  do  not  dread  the  penalty  of  the  violated  law. 
Here  they  do  not  apprehend  the  fiery  indignation 
of  a  people  whose  lives  are  endangered  by  their 
reckless  agitation.  Here,  too,  they  find  a  popula 
tion  generally  ignorant  of  the  nature  and  necessity 


173 

of  negro  slavery  at  the  South,  and  prepared,  by  pre 
vious  prejudices,  to  listen  to  the  dangerous  counsels 
of  those  who  oppose  it.  But,  perhaps,  a  still  greater 
inducement  for  making  the  North  the  present  scene 
of  their  labours  is,  that  it  presents  a  secure  position 
from  which  to  operate  on  the  South.  Here  they 
may  safely  plant  the  lever  by  which  they  hope  to 
overthrow  the  institutions  of  the  slave-holding  states. 
Here  they  may  mix  and  prepare  their  poisons;  may 
arrange  their  magazine  of  incendiary  weapons;  and 
send  forth  their  publications  through  the  South,  on 
their  errand  of  insurrection  and  death.  They  are 
heroic  men, — but  not  sufficiently  heroic  to  perpe 
trate  their  offences  in  person.  They  are  philan 
thropic, — but  dare  not  visit  the  slaves  and  minister 
to  their  alleged  wants  upon  the  spot.  They  are 
determined  to  "  war  until  death  with  the  tyrants 
of  the  South," — but  it  is  no  part  of  their  philosophy 
to  meet  their  foe  in  the  face  of  day;  they  war  with 
poison,  or  in  the  dark.  They  are  vastly  pious,  they 
quote  scripture  with  peculiar  unction,  and  repeat 
incessantly  the  divine  command — "  GO  unto  all  na 
tions."  But  they  take  the  liberty  of  modifying  the 
command,  and  read  it,  "  SEND  unto  all  nations." 

The  apostles  did  "  GO,"  even  with  the  prospect 
of  certain  death  before  them:  the  abolitionists  are 
so  much  more  holy  than  the  apostles,  that  they  can 
not  sanction  what  they  did  not  scruple  to  approve 
and  sustain — domestic  slavery — but,  with  all  their 
marvellous  sanctity  and  heroic  courage,  for  some 
reason  hitherto  unexplained,  they  have  not  yet  ven 
tured  to  "  GO." 

In  attempting  to  operate  on  the  South,  they  tell 
us  that  their  object  is  to  waken  the  conscience  of  the 
slave-holder.  How  they  can  expect,  by  endanger 
ing  the  life  of  the  slave-holder,  and  the  security  of 
his  family,  by  exciting  his  indignation  and  fears, 
15* 


174 

and  irritating  him  to  madness,  to  gain  his  confidence 
and  sway  his  convictions,  it  is  impossible  for  us  to 
imagine.  That  they  have  not  succeeded  thus  far, 
will  be  admitted.  Had  they  really  desired  or  de 
signed  to  operate  favourably  on  the  feelings  or  opin 
ions  of  the  slave-holder,  would  they  not,  after  so 
complete  a  failure,  have  abandoned  or  changed  their 
plan? 

Their  operations  are  prosecuted  through  the  me 
dium  of  the  post-office.  They  thus  avoid  expense, 
and  make  the  nation  pay  for  the  transportation  of 
their  incendiary  pamphlets.  The  arteries  of  the 
body  politic  are  thus  made  to  disseminate  those 
poisons  which  are  designed  to  destroy  it.  The 
propriety  of  such  a  course  has  never  been  doubted 
by  the  abolitionists — honesty  being  a  virtue  alto 
gether  beneath  the  consideration  of  such  exalted 
philanthropists.  The  circulation  of  such  publica 
tions  throughout  many  of  the  states  of  the  South  is 
a  capital  offence.  They,  conscientious  men,  do  not 
violate  the  laws  in  person;  but  throw  the  offence 
upon  the  unconscious  carrier  of  the  mail.  This 
might  disturb  the  ethics  of  some  people,  but  the 
violation  of  law  is,  with  the  fanatics,  a  praiseworthy 
act,  where  the  motives  of  the  offender  are  so  pure 
and  lofty.  The  publications  are  generally  directed 
"to  the  clergyman"  of  the  post-office  town,  or  to 
the  post-master.  The  number  of  individuals  to 
whom  it  is  directed  by  name  is  very  limited. 

The  real  object  of  transmitting  these  publications 
to  the  South  is,  that  they  may  reach  the  slave.  No 
one  who  has  read  their  publications,  particularly 
those  designed  for  the  South,  can  for  a  moment  sup 
pose  that  they  are  intended  or  expected  to  operate 
on  intelligent  or  educated  men.  They  are  designed 
for  the  ignorant  slaves.  The  box  of  anti-slavery 
publications  intercepted  on  its  way  to  the  South, 


175 

and  destroyed  at  Philadelphia,  contained  a  large 
number  of  handkerchiefs,  with  inflammatory  de 
vices.  Were  these  intended  for  the  master?  It 
contained  also  books,  with  representations  of  slaves 
in  chains,  suffering  under  the  lash.  These,  also,  we 
are  to  believe,  were  designed  for  the  intelligent 
planters  of  the  South.  The  fact  that  they  were  not 
directed  to  the  slaves,  is  immaterial.  They  could 
not  have  been  so  directed,  with  a  possibility  of 
reaching  their  destination.  They  were  sent  in  the 
only  manner  in  which  they  could  reach  the  slave. 
The  mails  were  swelled  with  them — the  whole 
South  was  flooded  with  them.  They  were  scat 
tered  broad-cast,  and  overspread  the  South  as  a 
pestilence.  How  is  it  possible  that  the  slave  could 
escape  them?  It  was  not  intended  that  he  should. 
They  were  written  for  him,  printed  for  him — were 
suited  only  to  his  capacity,  were  forwarded  for  his 
use,  and  were  intended,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter,  to 
excite  him  to  a  forcible  assertion  of  his  freedom. 

In  referring  to  the  means  used  by  the  abolitionists 
to  effect  their  design  of  popular  agitation,  we  must 
not  omit  their  constant  recourse  to  religious  cant. 
They  appeal,  for  the  most  part,  to  fanatical  weak 
ness.  They  do  not  presume  to  urge  abolition  as 
patriots,  philosophers,  or  political  economists:  they 
press  it  almost  exclusively  on  religious  grounds,  in 
religious  phraseology,  and  to  religious  men.  Their 
policy,  in  this  particular,  manifests  a  deep  insight 
into  human  nature,  particularly  in  this  country,  and 
is  the  great  cause  of  their  past  success. 

The  following  passages,  hastily  extracted  from 
an  abolition  paper  lying  before  us,  exhibit  the 
manner  in  which  their  cause  is  urged. 

"  1st.  Resolved,  (at  one  of  the  abolition  meet 
ings,)  That  slave-holding  being  totally  at  variance 
with  Christianity,  its  toleration  in  Christian  churches 


176 

is  in  effect  saying,  that  righteousness  hath  fellow 
ship  with  unrighteousness — that  light  hath  com 
munion  with  darkness — that  Christ  hath  concord 
with  Belial. 

2d.  Resolved,  that  the  toleration  of  slave-holding 
in  the  church  must  prove  fatal  to  vital  piety. 

3d.  Resolved,  That  slave-holding  is  incompatible 
with  church  fellowship." 

"  For  success  in  this  sacred  enterprize,  we  cease 
from  man,  and  look  to  God  alone. — In  him  is  ever 
lasting  strength — with  him  the  residue  of  the  Spirit 
and  plenteous  redemption.  His  word  has  gone  out 
of  his  mouth:  <  For  the  oppression  of  the  poor,  and 
for  the  sighing  of  the  needy,  now  will  I  rise,  saith 
the  Lord;  I  will  set  him  in  safety  from  him  that 
puffeth  at  him.'  His  wisdom  is  our  guide,  his 
power  our  defence,  his  truth  our  weapon,  his  Spirit 
our  comforter,  his  promise  the  anchor  of  our  souls, 
his  approval  our  exceeding  great  reward,  and  his 
blessing  upon  our  past  labors,  a  sure  presage  of  the 
glory  to  be  revealed  in  the  triumphs  of  a  redemp 
tion  which  already  draweth  nigh.  Solemnly  con 
secrated  to  the  cause  of  EMANCIPATION,  IMMEDIATE 
TOTAL  AND  UNIVERSAL,  we  subscribe  our  names  to 
this  Declaration." — Ohio  Convention. 

Extract  from  the  Speech  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  <Aikin. 
"  The  responsibilities  of  ministers  were  indeed 
momentous — momentous  as  two  and  a  half  millions 
of  human  beings  were  valuable — momentous  as 
heaven  was  important,  and  hell  awful — momentous 
as  the  worth  of  the  soul.  Almost  every  thing  in 
relation  to  this  cause  depended  upon  the  ministers 
of  Christ.  It  was  so  in  England;  little  was  done 
there  until  ministers  were  enlisted  in  the  work. 
While  Clarkson  was  sending  out  his  thrilling  ap 
peals,  and  Wilberforce  was  lifting  up  his  solitary 


177 

note  of  warning  in  Parliament,  the  ministers  of  the 
gospel  were  holding  back.  It  was  (  a  delicate  sub 
ject,'  had  'political  bearings,'  &c. — and  nothing 
was  done,  until  God  in  his  providence,  compelled 
his  ministers  to  take  up  the  subject  Then  the  work 
went  on  at  such  a  rate,  that  it  took  four  men  to 
carry  the  petitions  which  came  in  from  all  parts  of 
the  kingdom.  Then  Parliament  began  to  act.  And 
he  despaired  of  ever  seeing  the  great  work  accom 
plished  in  our  own  country,  until  the  ministers  of 
the  gospel  came  up  to  it  like  men,  with  united  ef 
fort  and  unflinching  nerve." — Emancipator. 

"  Yes,  it  is  written  in  the  decrees  of  high  heaven, 
that  the  injured  slave  shall  finally  be  for  ever  free. 
And  the  church  must  take  the  lead  in  this  great 
work.  It  has  taken  the  lead  in  my  own  country. 
If  legislatures  do  not  look  after  it,  this  will  not  ex 
cuse  the  church,  for  deliverance  must  come  out  of 
Zion."— Speech  of  Rev.  Mr.  Cox,  English  Moli- 
tion  Emissary. 

"  The  cry  of  the  oppressed — of  the  millions  who 
have  perished  among  us  as  the  brute  perisheth,  shut 
out  from  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation,  has  gone 
there  before  us,  to  Him  who  as  a  father  pitieth  all 
his  children.  Their  blood  is  upon  us  as  a  nation; 
woe  unto  us,  if  we  repent  not,  as  a  nation,  in  dust 
and  ashes.  Woe  unto  us  if  we  say  in  our  hearts, 
'The  Lord  shall  not  see,  neither  shall  the  God  of 
Jacob  regard  it.  He  that  planted  the  ear,  shall  he 
not  hear?  He  who  formed  the  eye,  shall  He  not 
see?'  " — JLnti- Slavery  Reporter. 

The  time  is  hastening  on  when  SLAVERY,  in  all 
its  forms,  must  come  to  an  end;  for  the  mouth  of 
the  Lord  has  spoken  it." — Observer. 

"  PRAYER  AND  ACTION  GO  TOGETHER. — A  friend 
in  Utica,  writes  us  as  follows: 

"'Our  friends  in  this  region  are  becoming  more 


178 

prayerful  and  earnest  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed 
colored  man.  Our  friends  Boardman,  Pettibone, 
(of  Evan's  Mills,  Jefferson  co.)  and  Waters,  at  the 
monthly  concert  of  Monday  evening,  took  hold,  by 
prayer  and  addresses,  with  a  Christian  and  strong 
hand,  of  the  glorious  cause  of  emancipation/' — 
Emancipator. 

"  O,  Heaven!  0,  thou  Great  Eternal,  is  this  jus 
tice!  is  this  equity!! — Equal  rights!  Save,  thou 
Great  Eternal,  save  our  country  from  the  practice 
of  such  equal  rights!!" — Human  Rights. 

"  We  appeal  to  you  as  Christians,  as  servants  of 
the  Most  High  God,  as  bearing  his  image,  as  repre 
sentatives  of  his  character,  as  imitators  of  all  his 
imitable  perfections. 

"  Dear  brethren,  will  you  consent  to  the  continu 
ance  of  this  iniquitous  and  impolitic  system?  Will 
you  allow  to  continue  a  bondage,  more  terrible  in 
its  moral  and  physical  effects  than  the  slavery  of 
Egypt,  the  cry  of  which  ascended  unto  heaven,  and 
brought  down  in  terrible  abundance  the  curses  of 
Omnipotence!  Will  you  still  support  a  system, 
(which  you  do,  so  long  as  you  do  not  remonstrate 
against  it)  which,  trampling  the  badge  of  Christian 
discipleship  under  its  unhallowed  feet,  acts  in  dar 
ing  violation  of  the  great  precept  of  its  founder, 
4  Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto 
you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them;'  can  you  with  any  con 
sistency  ask  a  blessing  for  the  diffusion  of  Christian 
knowledge  whilst  your  own  hands  are  tainted  with 
the  plague-spots  of  slavery,  and  whilst  the  accusing 
voice  of  our  whole  church,  whispers  in  their  ears — 
*  Cast  out  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye,  &c.'  " — 
Address  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Ohio. 

In  this,  as  in  every  thing  else,  the  abolitionists  do 
not  hesitate  to  go  to  the  greatest  extremes.  While 
they  denounce  against  slavery,  and  against  the  land 


179 

on  its  account,  the  most  direful  judgments;  while 
they  consign  the  slave-holder  and  all  who  counte 
nance  him  to  certain  damnation;  while  they  call 
upon  every  Christian,  to  come  forth  and  aid  in  the 
prostration  of  Slavery — they  do  not  shrink  from 
the  practical  application  of  their  principles,  and  re 
fuse  all  Christian  communion  with  those  who  sanc 
tion  what  God  has  sanctioned — what  the  laws  have 
sanctioned — what  good  men   in  all  ages  have  not 
hesitated  to  sanction — domestic  slavery.     This  bold 
and  daring  step  by  which  every  man  is  subjected  to 
religious  proscription,  who  is  not  willing  to  become 
virtually  a  traitor,  and  join  in  conspiring  against  his 
country  and  his  race,  while  it  excites  the  indigna 
tion  of  the  just,  appals  the  weak,  and  has,  when 
joined  with  their  cant,  hypocrisy  and  fanaticism, 
added  greatly  to  the  religious  power  previously  en 
listed  beneath  their  banner.    This  success  encourages 
them  to  a  more  ostentatious  exhibition  of  fanatical 
fervor.     Their  columns  are  almost  nasal  with  cant; 
and  it  might  be  supposed,  from  the  aspect  of  their 
publications,  that  the  days  of  Cromwell  were  re 
vived,  and  that  his  fanatical  followers,  heated  into 
tenfold  fury,  were  abroad  in  the  land. 

It  is  not  however  merely  to  religious  feelings  that 
they  appeal.  They  publish  statements  of  the  con 
dition  of  the  slaves  in  the  South,  made  up,  either  of 
utter  falsehoods,  or  of  artful  exaggerations,  and  calcu 
lated  to  excite  the  deepest  sympathy  in  their  behalf. 
Particular  narratives,  embodying  fictitious  cases  of 
unnatural  oppression,  are  extensively  circulated;  and 
poetical  and  pictorial  representations  are  added  to 
complete  the  sinister  appeal.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
state  that  in  all  this  the  boldest  falsehood  is  freely 
pressed  into  service.  Representations  of  an  equally 
moving  character,  and  of  equal  truth,  might  be 
made  up  of  the  cases  of  parental  cruelty,  or  the 


180 

barbarity  of  masters  to  apprentices,  in  the  North 
ern,  or  any  other  section  of  our,  or  any  other  coun 
try. 

The  abolitionists,  as  another  auxiliary  in  the  at 
tainment  of  their  ends,  have  succeeded  in  enlisting 
female  societies  in  their  support.  They  sew  for  the 
cause;  collect  money  for  it;  and  render  it  all  the 
aid  which  extraordinary  zeal,  combined  with  activi 
ty  and  leisure,  can  yield.  When  the  most  pro 
found  intellects  in  our  country  regard  this  exciting 
and  momentous  subject  with  awe,  we  cannot,  with 
out  regret,  see  ladies  rushing  boldly  into  it.  They 
forget  that  it  is  a  political  subject  of  the  most  im 
portant  character:  and,  easily  led  away  by  the  re 
ligious  appeals  of  the  abolitionists  and  the  gentle 
and  generous,  but  in  this  case  misguided,  promptings 
of  their  own  nature,  they  unreflectingly  lend  their 
aid  to  designs,  the  tendency  and  consequence  of 
which  they  are  incapable  of  understanding.  Poli 
tics  is  not  the  sphere  in  which  the  sex  is  either  use 
ful  or  honored;  and  their  interference  with  subjects 
of  this  character,  if  sufficiently  important  to  have 
any  influence,  must  have  an  evil  one.  It  is  pecu 
liarly  to  be  regretted,  that  the  false  eloquence  of  the 
abolition  preachers  could  ever  have  attained  such  in 
fluence  over  them,  as  to  render  them  forgetful  of  the 
situation  of  their  fair  and  gentle  sisters  of  the  South. 
Have  they  studied  the  history  of  St.  Domingo;  and 
are  they  prepared  to  let  loose  upon  the  refined  and 
innocent  ladies  of  the  South,  the  savage  negro,  inca 
pable  of  restraint,  and  wild  with  ungovernable  pas 
sions?  Are  they  aware  of  the  present  apprehen 
sions  of  the  females  of  the  slave-holding  states; 
and  are  they  willing  to  add  another  to  the  fears  that 
now  haunt  their  pillows?  It  is  impossible  that  fana 
ticism  can  so  far  have  perverted  their  sympathies, 
or  steeled  the  holier  charities  of  their  nature. 


181 

The  possibility  of  insurrection  and  the  negroes' 
saturnalia  of  blood  and  lust,  should  appal  every 
female  bosom,  and  deter  them  from  a  scheme  of  be 
nevolence  so  dubious  in  its  character,  and  so  fearful 
in  its  consequences.* 

But  the  eager  fanatics  have  even  sought  to  draw 
children  into  their  ranks.  For  this  purpose,  they 
have  encouraged  the  formation  of  children's  Aboli 
tion  Societies.  They  have  also  published  abolition 
magazines  and  periodicals  for  children,  filled  with 

*  We  marvel  that  the  abstractions  of  the  abolitionists  con 
cerning  the  rights  of  man,  have  never  suggested  to  their 
female  disciples,  the  propriety  of  asserting  the  rights  of  wo 
men.  The  same  abstract  reasoning  will  sustain  both.  "All 
men  are  created  free  and  equal ;"  and  why  not,  pray,  all 
women1?  Why  are  they  debarred  the  right  of  voting,  the 
right  of  legislating,  the  right  of  holding  office  1  Why  are 
they  made  the  dependants  and  slaves  of  the  "  lords  of  crea 
tion" — their  civil  existence,  and  even  their  name  being  for 
feited  by  matrimony  1  Is  this  just  dealing,  in  a  free  country  1 
These  positions  are  by  no  means  novel.  They  have  been 
seriously  urged,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  extract 
from  the  Free  Enquirer:  "  Are  not  all  women  endowed 
with  certain  unalienable  rights,  among  which  are  life,  liberty 
arid  the  pursuit  of  happiness?  Are  not  governments  (both 
matrimonial  and  legal)  'instituted  among  men  to  secure  these 
rights  V  Do  not  marriages,  as  well  as  governments,  *  derive 
their  just  power  from  the  consent'  of  the  contracting  parties  ? 
4  Whenever  any  marriage  (be  it  of  a  king  to  his  subjects,  or 
a  husband  to  his  wife)  '  becomes  destructive  of  these  ends,' 
is  it  not  right  that  it  should  be  dissolved '?"  These  views 
have  not  been  left  to  theory.  The  French  revolutionists, 
from  whom  the  fanatics  derive  their  notions  of  abolition, 
directly  undertook  to  assert  the  rights  of  women.  The 
French  legislature  took  up  this  subject  in  1789.  "  Succeed 
ing  Assemblies,"  says  Burke  in  his  Regicide  Peace,  "  went 
the  full  length  of  the  principle,  and  gave  a  license  to  divorce 
at  the  mere  pleasure  of  either  party,  and  at  one  month's 
notice."  The  reason  alleged  was  "  that  women  had  been 
too  long  under  the  tyranny  of  parents  and  husbands."  To 
euch  lengths  will  these  abstractionists  carry  their  insane  teal. 
16 


182 

pictures,  calculated  to  operate  on  the  uninformed 
and  youthful  mind.  Handkerchiefs,  with  matter  of 
the  same  character,  are  printed  and  distributed.  A 
double  object  is  thus  attained — whilst  these  books 
and  handkerchiefs  are  adapted  to  their  ostensible 
purpose,  they  are  found  equally  suited  to  excite  the 
ignorant  slave.  We  will  not  now  pause  to  com 
ment  on  that  party-spirit,  which  scruples  not  to  en 
list,  in  opposition  to  the  established  institutions  of 
the  country,  the  aid  of  women  and  children.  Those 
who  seek  thus  to  carry  a  polical  measure,  can  have 
but  little  confidence  in  their  claims  to  the  support 
of  prudent  and  reasoning  men. 

The  organization  of  the  party  is  effective.  It  con 
sists  of  the  general  society,  and  those  which  have 
been  subsequently  formed  for  the  advancement  of  the 
cause.  The  latter  are  divided  into  state  and  county 
societies.  They  have  already  held  several  conven 
tions.  In  these  conventions  blacks  and  whites  are 
mingled  indiscriminately. 

The  more  direct  means,  by  which  the  abolitionists 
operate  on  the  popular  mind,  are  their  emissaries  and 
agents,  and  their  publications  and  pictures.  Their 
agents  are  generally  clergymen.  They  traverse  the 
North,  preaching  sermons  in  support  of  abolition; 
and  when  they  can  muster  courage,  enter  the  South 
and  skulk  among  the  slaves,  for  the  alleged  pur 
pose  of  preaching  the  Gospel,  but  in  reality  to  excite 
discontent  and  opposition.  The  reader  is  aware, 
that  several  of  these  emissaries  have  been  detected 
in  the  South;  and  that  justice  has  been  meted  out  to 
them  according  to  their  deserts.  One  was  recently 
detected  in  the  vicinity  of  Nashville,  scattering  in 
surrectionary  prints  and  devices,  under  the  pretence 
of  distributing  the  cottage  bible.  A  number  of  these 
agents  are  engaged  in  travelling  through  the  South, 
and  writing  letters,  filled  with  the  most  revolting 


183 

falsehoods  in  relation  to  the  condition  and  treatment 
of  the  slaves. 

The  most  powerful  instrument  of  mischief  in  the 
hands  of  the  abolitionists  is  the  press.  A  number 
of  books,  magazines,  tracts,  and  newspapers  are  pub 
lished  and  distributed  gratuitously  through  all  sec 
tions  of  the  Union.  These  publications  are  made 
up  with  skill  and  effect;  and  embody  every  thing  in 
the  shape  of  false  statements,  hollow  declamation, 
and  religious  cant,  which,  it  is  supposed,  can  mis 
lead  or  excite  the  unthinking. 

In  the  accomplishment  of  their  aims,  the  abolition 
ists  do  not  scruple  to  resort  to  every  measure  calcu 
lated  to  influence  the  result.  They  may  be  already 
regarded  as  a  political  party.  It  is  true,  that  they 
have  not,  thus  far,  nominated  candidates,  and  for 
mally  entered  the  political  arena.  But  they  have, 
in  those  communities,  where  their  strength  warrants 
it,  procured  lists  of  those  opposed  to  them,  and  op 
pose  and  proscribe  them  in  political  life,  whenever 
an  opportunity  is  afforded.  Their  complete  union, 
and  the  secrecy  of  their  operations,  render  them 
even  now  important;  and  should  their  future  pro 
gress  in  the  North  equal  that  of  the  last  two  years, 
they  will  be  enabled  to  raise  their  banner  before  the 
world.  In  the  attitude  of  political  partizans  they 
cannot,  with  their  zeal,  resources,  ability,  and 
successful  recourse  to  electioneering  and  religious 
cant  and  slang — fail  to  attain  a  dangerous  influence 
and  power. 

We  have  before  said,  that  the  abolitionists  regard 
nothing  as  sacred  which  intervenes  between  them 
and  their  object.  If  they  can  pervert  the  present 
government  into  an  instrument  of  agitation,  and 
succeed  in  their  designs  upon  the  South,  they  will, 
of  course,  be  satisfied.  But  should  they  fail  in  this, 


184 

should  they  find  the  constitution  of  the  Union  an 
^Ggis  for  the  South,  which  their  efforts  are  inade 
quate  to  shatter — they  will  not  pause  nor  hesitate 
to  change  it.  They  have,  indeed,  in  some  of  their  do 
cuments  avowed  their  disapproval  of  the  provisions 
of  the  present  constitution,  and  their  determination  to 
advocate  such  a  change  as  will  leave  the  South  open 
to  national  legislation  on  the  question  of  slavery. 
This  change  has  been  mostly  advocated  as  a  peace 
ful  measure.  Should  the  proposed  reform  however 
fail,  they  are  prepared  to  make  open  war  upon  the 
constitution,  and  preach  revolution.  They  have  al 
ready  made  several  direct  advances  to  this  position; 
not  insidiously  and  with  fear,  but  openly  and  before 
all  the  world.  They  preach  that  no  law  or  consti 
tution  can  be  binding  which  is  opposed  to  the  will 
of  heaven;  and  as  they  denounce  slavery  as  a  sin, 
the  inference  is  plain,  that  our  constitution,  which 
sanctions  it,  has  no  binding  force. 

It  is  scarce  credible  that,  in  this  happy  country, 
men  can  be  found  willing  to  avow  their  treasonable 
hostility  to  our  sacred  government;  yet  such  is  the 
fact,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  extracts: 

"  Suppose  the  constitution  did  sanction  slavery? 
What  then?  While  there  is  a  God  in  heaven,  CAN 
WE  BE  BOUND  by  any  compacts  of  our  own,  or 
ANY  ENACTMENTS  of  our  fellow  worms,  to 
sin  against  him?" — Speech  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  May-, 
one  of  the  leading  champions  of  abolition. 

The  following  passages  are  from  the  "  Declaration 
of  the  Anti-Slavery  Convention;"  and  may  be  re 
garded  as  the  solemn  and  official  expression  of  the 
fixed  principles  of  the  party. 

"  The  guilt  of  this  nation  is  unequalled  by  any 
other  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

"  Every  American  citizen  who  retains  a  human 


185 

being  in  involuntary  bondage,  is  (according  to  scrip 
ture)  a  man  stealer.* 

"  Jill  those  laws  which  are  now  in  force,  ad 
mitting  the  right  of  slavery,  are,  before  God, 
NULL  AND  VOID." 

This,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  distinct  and  intelli 
gible  enough. 

If  the  South  could  be  given  up  to  the  slaves,  and 
the  Union  still  preserved,  the  abolitionists  would 
probably  be  content.  But  we  have  every  evidence 
of  their  determination,  that  the  Union,  with  its  pre 
sent  institutions,  shall  not  continue.  Their  whole 
policy  betrays  this  sentiment.  Their  violation  of  the 
rights  of  the  South;  their  efforts  to  irritate  the  peo 
ple  of  the  slave-holding  states  into  acts  of  hostility 
against  the  Union;  their  anxiety  to  agitate  the  dis 
tracting  subject  of  slavery  in  the  United  States 
Districts,  and  their  thousand  different  schemes  of 
incendiarism  and  agitation,  evidence, — not  an  in 
difference  to  the  Union — but  a  fixed  and  stern  de 
termination  to  overthrow  it. 

We  have  not  been  left  to  infer  the  existence  of 
this  disposition  from  their  course;  they  have  directly 
avowed  it.  The  Human  Rights,  a  paper  published 
by  the  A.  S.  Society,  says — 

"  Abolitionists  are  probably  as  fond  of  the  Union 
as  slave-holders ;  BUT  NOT  OF  A  UNION  TO  OPPRESS 
THE  POOR.  If  this  Union  is  severed,  slavery  will 
be  to  blame  for  it." 

This  declaration  is  only  one  of  innumerable  ex 
pressions  of  a  like  character.  It  cannot  be  doubted 
that  the  abolitionists,  instead  of  feeling  disposed  to 

*  If  there  be  any  such  declaration  in  Scripture,  in  relation 
to  "American  citizens,"  or  any  other  citizens,  we  have  been 
unable  to  discover  it.  We  have  already  shown  that  the 
scripture  sanction  of  slavery  is  ample  and  distinct. 


186 

abandon  their  schemes,  because  dangerous  to  the 
Union,  are  opposed  to  the  Union  from  prejudice  and 
feeling,  and  determined,  if  possible,  to  overthrow  it, 
as  the  great  obstacle  in  the  way  of  accomplishing 
their  own  mad  designs. 

The  abolitionists  have  disclaimed  a  desire  to  ex 
cite  insurrection  among  the  slaves.  If  a  man  should 
thrust  a  lighted  torch  into  a  powder  magazine,  he 
would  find  it  difficult  to  convince  the  world  that  he 
did  not  design  to  produce  an  explosion.  The  aboli 
tionists  studiously  pursue  a  course  which  they  know 
must  have  a  tendency  to  excite  insurrection;  a  course 
for  which  we  can  assign  no  other  rational  object — 
and  yet  assure  us  that  it  is  innocent.  Their  Southern 
emissaries,  their  inflammatory  papers,  and  their  still 
more  inflammatory  devices,  are  all  intended  for  the 
slave-holder !  Such  assertions  exhibit  a  degree  of 
bold  presumption,  of  brassy  assurance,  for  which  it 
would  be  difficult  to  find  a  parallel.  While  they 
pronounce  the  restraints  of  the  law  upon  the  slave 
"  null  and  void,"  while  they  own  that  their  love 
of  union  does  not  extend  to  the  present  union,  which 
"  oppresses  the  poor" — while  their  professed  prin 
ciples  and  acknowledged  practice  all  join  to  prove 
that  servile  insurrection,  instead  of  being  inconsis 
tent  with  their  sentiments  or  feelings,  is  a  part  of 
their  policy — while  all  this  stands  manifest  before 
us,  we  canot  but  marvel  at  the  boldness  which  dares 
to  deny  their  desire  to  see  the  slaves  rise  upon  their 
masters,  and  assert  their  freedom  at  the  point  of  the 
sword.  Let  the  following  extracts  from  their  official 
publications  speak  for  them  on  this  subject: 

"  How  long  can  the  smiles  of  Heaven  rest  on  a 
people  who  boldly  and  shamelessly  avow  their  de 
termination  at  all  hazards  to  uphold  the  most  foul 
and  crushing  system  of  tyranny  that  ever  disgraced 
this  tyrant-trodden  world?  But  hush !  we  must  not 


187 

speak  of  tyranny,  lest  the  word  should  penetrate  the 
sealed  ear  of  the  bondman !  Mark  the  reason — aye, 
MARK  THE  REASON.  It  is  not  because  your  charge 
is  FALSE — but  because  your  words  may  arouse  the 
victim.  Heavens!  is  there  in  free  America  a  class 
so  basely,  cruelly  trampled  in  the  mire,  that  their 
ears  must  never  be  saluted  with  a  word  of  sympathy, 
that  their  rights  must  never  be  called  in  remem 
brance,  lest  they  should  be  goaded  to  uncontrollable 
and  murderous  vengeance?  IF  SO,  WE  SAY,  BET 
TER  MEET  THEIR  VENGEANCE  THAN 
GOD'S.'7 

"A  very  important £  TRUTH'  it  is  indeed,  that  the 
slave-holders  are  (  united  as  one  man  in  the  fixed 
and  unalterable  determination  to  maintain  their 
RIGHTS,  and  defend  their  PROPERTY!'  Who  attacks 
their  'rights'  or  their  'property?'  Nobody.  We 
only  ask  that  they  should  restore  to  other  people 
their  '  RIGHTS'  and  (  PROPERTY.'  'Be  the  conse 
quences  what,  they  may,'  we  will  not,  say  the  slave 
holders.  THEN  YOU  MUST  TAKE  THE 
CONSEQUENCES.  We  have  done  our  duty. 

"  THE  LAWS  ADMITTING  THE  RIGHT  OP  SLAVERY 
ARE  A  COMPLETE  EXTINCTION  OF  ALL  THE  OBLIGA 
TIONS  OF  MANKIND." 

"  Suppose  the  intelligence  should  reach  this  city 
to-day,  that  the  slaves  had  risen  in  insurrection,  and 
were  scattering  dismay  and  death  through  the  South, 
would  not  the  veriest  child  know  the  cause?  <  THEY 
ARE  FIGHTING  for  their  FREEDOM,'  would  be  the 
universal  cry." 

"  It  may  be  supposed  that  the  press  can  be  shack 
led,  and  made  to  say  nothing  seriously  offensive  to 
slave-holders — the  wildest  nonsense.  To  effect  it 
the  nation  must  pass  through  the  crucible  of  an 
archy  into  a  new  mode  of  existence." 


188 

The  following  is  the  conclusion  of  a  narrative  of 
the  efforts  of  a  slave  to  escape  from  bondage.  The 
cause  of  the  negro  is  described  with  apparent  appro 
bation. 

"They  went  on  board  a  vessel;  and,  during  a 
serene  evening  in  that  delicious  climate,  the  trader 
reposed  himself  upon  the  deck.  In  the  dead  of  the 
night,  the  slave  contrived  to  rid  himself  of  his  hand 
cuffs,  and  groped  until  he  grasped  an  axe;  and,  thus 
armed,  stood  over  the  sleeping  man.  He  waked 
him  and  told  his  purpose.  <  Then  God  have  mercy 
on  me,'  said  the  slave-trader.  '  God  will  not  have 
mercy  on  you,  neither  will  I,'  said  the  slave,  and 
beat  out  his  brains." 

We  will  not,  by  multiplying  our  extracts,  aid  in 
giving  circulation  to  their  ravings.  We  have  pre 
sented  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  candid  reader,  that 
the  abolitionists,  so  far  from  entertaining  a  repug 
nance  to  insurrection,  have  directed  their  efforts  to 
that  object,  and  pursued  a  course  which  has,  and  can 
have,  no  other  motive. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Resources  and  power  of  the  abolitionists — Num 
ber  of  Societies — Collections — Publications,  8?c. 

IT  requires  no  profound  investigation  of  the 
character,  progress,  and  resources  of  the  abolition 
ists  to  convince  us,  that  the  cause  of  union  and  order 
has,  in  them,  dangerous  opponents.  It  will  be  seen 
by  the  following  statements,  mostly  derived  from 
their  own  publications,  that  their  past  progress  has 
been  rapid  almost  beyond  parallel.  But  a  few  years 
have  elapsed,  since  their  black  banner  was  given  to 
the  breeze.  At  that  time  the  scheme  was  novel; 
and  its  advocates  were  regarded  with  universal  con 
tempt.  To  what  must  we  ascribe  their  advance  ? 
To  the  justice  of  their  cause,  answers  the  abolition 
ist.  The  crusades  then  are  to  be  regarded  with 
admiration;  and  Mahomet  and  his  fanatical  follow 
ers,  whose  progress  was  even  more  rapid  than  the 
abolitionists,  are  also  to  be  considered  as  triumph 
ing  in  the  justice  of  their  cause.  Joanna  Southcote, 
too,  was  a  true  prophetess;  and  Matthias,  by  the 
same  rule,  is  entitled  to  all  the  reverence  which 
some  of  the  fanatics  of  New  York  manifested  to 
wards  him.  Human  nature  is  not  always  to  be  de 
pended  on.  Few  schemes  of  imposture  or  fanati 
cism  are  too  gross  for  popular  credulity;  and  when 
talents,  wealth,  and  religious  zeal  or  hypocrisy  unite 
to  urge  a  cause,  it  must  bear  features  singularly  re 
pulsive  if  it  fails  to  make  proselytes. 


190 

The  abolitionists  commenced  their  operations  at 
a  period  peculiarly  fortunate  for  their  designs.  A 
protracted  peace,  our  undisturbed  tranquillity  and 
growing  wealth,  had  relaxed  the  love  of  country 
which  once  characterized  our  people,  had  engender 
ed  jealousies  between  different  sections  of  our  coun 
try,  had  encouraged  religious  fanaticism,  and  engen 
dered  a  general  discontent,  an  impatience  of  the 
monotony  of  the  times,  and  a  thirst  for  excitement, 
highly  favourable  to  any  scheme  of  agitation.  This 
state  of  the  popular  mind  has  been  artfully  consult 
ed,  by  the  abolitionists.  How  far  they  have  already 
succeeded  will  be  seen:  how  far  they  will  be  per 
mitted  to  carry  their  treasonable  designs  hereafter, 
time  must  make  manifest. 

The  success  of  the  agitators  in  organizing  socie 
ties  is  almost  incredible.  But  a  few  months  since 
they  were  sneered  at  as  "  a  few  miserable  fanatics." 
Since  that  time  they  have  formed  societies  through 
out  all  the  non-slave-holding  states;  and  are  pro 
gressing  in  this  organization  with  undiminished 
rapidity.  The  following  extracts  state  the  number 
of  the  societies  to  be  two  hundred  and  fifty — 
subsequent  publications  boast  of  THREE  HUNDRED. 

From  "Human  Rights." 

"This  new  paper  is  not  started  as  a  means  of 
pecuniary  profit;  it  is  not  sent  out  by  any  one  man. 
Thousands  of  our  fellow  citizens  have  associated  in 
different  parts  of  our  country  to  obtain  the  freedom 
of  the  slaves, — yes,  of  two  and  a  quarter  mil 
lions  of  Americans,  who,  shame  to  tell  it,  are  in 
this  Republic  slaves.  Already  there  are  numbered 
more  than  TWO  HUNDRED  Anti-Slavery  Societies, 
acting  through  a  central  Society,  called  the  "  Ameri 
can  Anti-Slavery  Society. J? 


191 
From  "Human  Rights." 

"  PROGRESS  OP  THE  ANTI-SLAVERY  CAUSE. 

"  Dead  fish  do  not  swim  up  stream.  We  may  be 
sure,  therefore,  that  when  we  see  a  tenant  of  the 
water  making  fine  headway  against  the  current, 
there  is  life  in  it. 

"  The  anti-slavery  cause  has  made  progress,  every 
body  knows.  Who  does  not  remember  the  ridicule 
that  was  thrown  upon  the  handful  of  "  Fanatics" 
in  Boston  three  years  ago — upon  the  twenty-two 
men  and  two  women  in  New  York  two  years  ago — 
upon  the  fifty  or  sixty  men  who  met  in  Philadelphia 
a  year  and  a-half  ago — what  a  fine  joke  it  was  that 
such  a  handful  should  meet  to  form  an  American 
Society?  Now  this  same  Society  numbers  250 
Auxiliaries,  in  13  states. 

"Five  of  these  are  State  Societies." 

From  the  second  Annual  Report  of  the  New 
England  Jinti- Slavery  Society,  presented  \5th 
January,  1834. 

"  What  is  now  the  prospect? 

"  A  few  pens,  a  few  periodicals,  a  few  tracts,  and 
a  few  limited  agencies  have  electrified  the  nation, 
and  already  stirred  up  a  mighty  host  to  plead  and 
labor  for  the  oppressed.  Our  cause  is  rapidly  get 
ting  supremacy  in  New  England.  It  has  received 
accession  of  wealth,  of  talent,  of  free  and  of  un 
conquerable  zeal,  that  insures  its  speedy  triumph." 

From  the  same  publication. 

"  In  addition  to  that  Society  (American  A.  S.  S.) 
and  our  own,  (New  England  A.  S.  S.)  we  have  a 
large  number  of  male  and  female  Anti-Slavery  So 
cieties  in  various  parts  of  our  land,  which  embrace 


192 

the  names  of  thousands  who  are  pledged  to  the  doc 
trine  of  immediate  emancipation.  These  Societies 
are  multiplying  with  a  rapidity  which  is  truly  as 
tonishing." 

From  the  Emancipator  of  August. 
"PROGRESS  OF  ANTI-SLAVERY. 

"  Several  letters  announcing  the  formation  of  auxiliaries, 
and  containing  copies  of  constitutions  and  lists  of  officers, 
must  be  omitted  for  want  of  room.  The  organization  of 
Anti-Slavery  Societies  is  going  on  with  most  cheering  ra 
pidity. 

"In  Bennington,  Vt.,  an  Anti-Slavery  Society  was  formed 
on  the  4th  of  July,  with  140  members.  President,  Stephen 
Hinsdill ;  Secretary,  James  Ballard.  A  liberal  subscription 
was  raised  for  publications. 

"  In  Union  Village,  Washington  co.,  N.  Y.,  the  Green 
wich  Aux.  Anti-Slavery  Society,  was  formed  on  the  4th  of 
July.  President,  Henry  Holmes ;  Secretary,  Edwin  An 
drews.  Large  number  of  members. 

«*  In  Nunda,  Livingston  co.,  N.  Y.,  a  society  was  formed 
on  the  same  day,  with  160  members. 

"  At  Oberlin,  Loraine  co.,  Ohio,  on  the  25th  June,  an  aux 
iliary  was  formed  with  230  members. 

«'  Auxiliary  societies  have  been  also  formed  in  the  follow 
ing  places,  not  heretofore  acknowledged. 
Brunswick,  Medina  co.,  Ohio.  Geneva,  Ashtabula  co.,  Ohio. 
Milan,  Huron  co.,     do.     Morgan,  do.  do. 

Lyme,  do.  do.     Kingsville,      do.  do. 

Kinsman,  Trumbull  co.,  do.     Jefferson,         do.  do. 

Hartford,         do.  do.     Huntsburgh,  Georgia  co., do. 

Cadiz,  do.     Claridon,          do.  do. 

Greenville,  Mercer  co.,    Pa.     Streetsboro',  Portage  co.,  do. 
Butler,        Butler  co.,       do.     Kingston,  N.  H. 

W.  Middletown, ,     Pa.     Ware,  Mass. 

Mount  Pleasant,  Ohio.  Andover,  Ashtabula  co.,  Ohio. 

Boscawen,  N.  H.  (Rev.  Samuel  Wood,  D.  D.,  Pres.;  Abra 
ham  Robertson,  Cor.  Sec.) 

"  Most  of  those  in  the  above  list  in  Ohio  and  Pa.  were 
formed  by  the  agency  of  Mr.  James  Loughhead.  Mr.  Joseph 
G.  Wilson  has  been  labouring  with  good  success  in  Medina 
and  Huron  counties,  Ohio.  Mr.  Theodore  D.  Weld  is  lec 
turing  with  his  usual  success  in  the  towns  on  the  Ohio  River. 


193 

Most  cheering  have  been  the  results  of  his  labours  in  Wash 
ington,  Pa.  and  Stuebenville,  Ohio.  In  the  former  place  h« 
delivered  fifteen  lectures  and  two  addresses  to  the  colored 
people. 

"  Messrs.  Phelps  and  Thompson  have  recently  visited 
Andover,  and  notwithstanding  the  forbidding  neutrality, 
which  the  authorities  of  the  Theological  Seminary  have 
thought  it  important  to  adopt,  there  is  a  fair  prospect  that 
immediate  abolition  will  be  openly  espoused  at  length  by  a 
large  portion  of  the  students. 

"  In  Middlebury  College,  Vt.,  the  students  are  sympathiz 
ing  deeply  in  the  good  cause." 

From  "  Human  Rights"  of  September. 
"NEW  SOCIETIES. 

"  At  the  late  meeting  of  the  Methodist  Episco 
pal  Conference  of  New-Hampshire,  an  Anti-Slavery 
Society  was  formed  of  about  70  members,  ministers 
of  that  denomination. 

66  In  Northeast,  Erie  co.,  Pa.,  a  society  has  been 
organized  auxiliary  to  the  Am.  A.  S.  Society,  with 
encouraging  prospects. 

"  The  following  are  reported  as  organized  in  R. 
I.  by  Mr.  Stanton:  One  at  Natick,  125  members; 
a  Ladies'  Society  in  that  vicinity,  150  members;  a 
Young  Men's  Society  in  the  same  neighbourhood, 
number  of  members  not  known;  at  North  Scituate, 
220  members;  at  Valley  Falls,  70  members.  On 
the  1st  of  August  an  auxiliary  Anti-Slavery  Society 
was  formed  at  Clarksfield,  Ohio — John  Hough,  Pres. 
Thomas  T.  Husted,  Sec. 

"  The  A.  S.  Society  of  Bradford,  Ms.  was  formed 
on  the  27th  July.  Rev.  Gardner  B.  Perry,  Pres. 
Dr.  Geo.  Cogswell,  Secretary." 

Their  collections  and  resources  appear  to  be  al 
most  boundless.  They  are  able  to  raise  any  amount 
necessary  to  prosecute,  with  effect,  their  scheme  of 
incendiary  agitation.  Their  prominent  abettors  are 
17 


194 

generally  affluent  and  zealous  men;  and  it  appears 
only  necessary  to  vote  that  a  certain  sum  is  requir 
ed,  and  it  is  immediately  contributed.  The  follow 
ing  extract  is  from  a  late  address. 

"  DEAR  BRETHREN, — At  the  last  annual  meeting 
of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  an  effort  be  made  to  raise  30,000 
dollars  for  the  use  of  the  Society  the  present  year, 
and  that  the  abolitionists  present,  pledge  themselves 
to  raise  such  sums  as  they  may  respectively  offer. 

"  Donations  and  pledges  were  immediately  ob 
tained,  amounting  $14,500. 

"  Additional  pledges  have  since  been  obtained  in 
Boston,  to  the  amount  of  4,000  dollars.  The  sum 
of  1 1,500  remains  to  be  raised.  As  there  are  known 
to  be  more  than  TWO  HUNDRED  Anti-Slavery  Socie 
ties  on  kindred  principles  with  the  American,  we 
have  no  doubt  this  sum  can  speedily  be  made  up. — 
Each  society  has  only  to  raise  150  dollars,  and  the 
work  is  done.  We  believe  that  those  societies  which 
remain  unpledged  will  joyfully  come  forward  to  do 
their  proportion,  as  soon  as  called  on." 

This  $30,000  was  exclusively  appropriated  to  the 
support  of  their  publications  for  one  year.  The  im 
mense  sums  expended  on  agents,  schools,  &c.  &c. — 
are  raised  in  addition  to  the  above.  The  pecuniary 
resources  of  the  abolitionists,  had  they  no  other 
source  of  power,  are  sufficient  almost  to  revolution 
ize  a  land.  The  peculiar  position  and  character  of 
our  national  Government  render  any  direct  opposi 
tion  to  the  domestic  rights  of  the  South,  danger 
ous;  but  when  a  large  and  well  organized  party, 
comprising  many  men  of  talent  and  energy,  and 
possessed  of  pecuniary  resources  almost  as  great  as 
those  of  the  confederacy  under  which  our  revolu 
tionary  contest  was  commenced,  wars  directly  and 


195 

openly  against  the  rights,  feelings,  and  even  the 
existence  of  certain  members  of  the  Union — who 
can  be  so  blind  as  not  to  see  the  consequences?  Who 
cannot  see  that  submission  on  the  part  of  the  South 
would  end  in  her  destruction? 

The  following  extract  from  the  September  No. 
of  the  Human  Rights,  cannot  fail  to  undeceive  those 
who  have  hitherto  regarded  the  abolitionists  as  a 
powerless  band  of  malcontents. 

"  RESOURCES  OF  ABOLITIONISTS. — Those  editors 
who  have  complimented  Mr.  Arthur  Tappan  as  de 
fraying  nearly  the  whole  expense  of  the  American 
Anti-Slavery  Society,  are  requested  to  examine  the 
receipts  of  our  Treasurer,  as  published  in  the  Anti- 
Slavery  Record.  The  numbers  of  that  work,  up 
to  the  present  month,  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
$8512,01;  of  which  $1750  is,  or  might  be,  credited 
to  Mr.  A.  Tappan.  Liberal  as  his  donations  are,  if 
he  were  to  withhold  them  altogether,  we  believe 
the  deficiency  would  not  long  be  felt.  Even  the 
most  infatuated  slave-holders  must  be  blinder  than 
we  suppose  them,  if  they  do  not  understand  by  this 
time,  that  the  hearts  and  purses  of  tens  of  thou 
sands  are  devoted  to  this  cause." 

The  resources  and  power  of  the  abolitionists  are 
exhibited  in  the  number  and  extent  of  their  publi 
cations.  Perhaps  no  party  in  this  country  ever  ex 
pended  as  much  as  the  abolitionists  in  publications 
intended  to  operate  on  the  public  mind.  We  are 
told  in  one  of  their  reports,  that  "  the  society  has 
published  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  thousand 
copies  of  various  pamphlets,  besides  the  gratuitous 
distribution  of  copies  of  the  Emancipator  and  nu 
merous  circulars.  They  have  also  assisted  in  the 
circulation  of  large  works.77  The  resources  and 


196 

energies  of  a  society  which  can,  in  addition  to  its 
regular  expenses,  circulate  122,000  copies  of  pam 
phlets,  must  be  much  greater  than  those  of  any 
political  association,  which  this  country  has  yet  wit 
nessed.  The  following  "Plan  of  Publications," 
from  the  August  number  of  the  Emancipator,  will 
exhibit  the  number  of  their  regular  publications  and 
the  extent  of  the  different  editions. 

"  This  number  of  the  Emancipator  is  the  first 
of  the  monthly  series.  It  will  be  issued  to  a 
great  extent  gratuitously.  Already  50,000  copies 
of  the  small  paper  entitled  HUMAN  RIGHTS, 
have  been  sent  forth,  and  50,000  copies  of  the 
ANTI-SLAVERY  RECORD,  for  July.— The 
EMANCIPATOR  and  the  SLAVE'S  FRIEND 
will  complete  the  series  for  the  month.  Next 
month  the  same  series  will  be  repeated." 

It  must  be  remembered  that  these  papers  are 
gratuitously  distributed.  Thus  it  will  be  seen 
that  every  week  fifty  thousand  publications,  made 
up  with  great  skill,  and  containing  the  most  inflam 
matory  and  dangerous  matter — are  distributed.  A 
large  portion  of  these,  no  doubt,  inundate  the 
South.  The  remainder  are  intended  for  those  in 
the  North,  "  who  read  but  cannot  reason."  Who 
can  wonder  at  the  results  effected  by  the  abolition 
ists,  when  he  contemplates  the  tremendous  energy 
of  the  means  employed? 

The  following  statement  is  made  by  the  Emanci 
pator,  of  the  number  of  papers  distributed  in  the 
month  of  July. 

"  Human  Rights,  50,000  copies, 

A.  S.  Record,  50,000      " 

Emancipator,  50,000      " 

Slave's  Friend,  25,000      « 

Total,  175,000 


197 

The  Slave's  Friend,  here  mentioned,  is  a  periodi 
cal  designed  ostensibly  for  children,  but  intended, 
beyond  a  doubt,  in  reality,  to  operate  on  the  slaves. 
It  is  written  in  very  simple  language,  and  is  deco 
rated  with  inflammatory  pictures.  Its  very  title 
betrays  its  real  character;  and  its  contents  prove  it 
to  be  intended  for  the  slave  alone. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  publications  of 
the  Anti-Slavery  Society,  comprise  all  the  periodi 
cals  which  sustain  their  principles.  The  following 
extract  from  the  Emancipator  will  correct  any  such 
erroneous  impression. — "Among  the  things  that 
encourage  us,  not  the  least,  is  the  rapid  increase  of 
anti-slavery  presses.  Nearly  half  the  newspapers 
in  our  exchange  list,  about  one  hundred,  admit  arti 
cles  favourable  to  emancipation,  and  a  large  number 
of  them  are  decidedly  anti-slavery.  We  shall  en 
deavour  soon  to  exhibit  a  list  of  the  anti-slavery 
newspapers  in  the  United  States."* 

It  is  impossible  that  any  reasoning  man,  can  con 
template  the  resources  and  activity  of  the  abolition 
ists,  and  wonder  at  their  progress.  It  is  impossible 
that  any  patriot  can  view,  in  connection,  their  past 
success,  their  present  energies  and  activity,  and 
their  future  prospects,  without  coming  to  the  con- 

*  In  the  list  of  anti-slavery  publications  advertised  by  the 
Society,  we  find  upwards  of  fifty  different  publications, 
prints,  &c.,  offered  for  sale.  The  following  are  some  of  the 
articles  advertised. 

41  Picture  of  a  slave  in  chains,  with  the  negro's  complaint, 
in  poetry.  Our  countrymen  in  chains,  with  poetry,  by  J.  G. 
Whittier. 

'•  Anti-Slavery  handkerchiefs,  ornamented  with  4  cuts,  and 
extracts  from  the  Slave's  Friend,  printed  with  indelible  ink, 
price  50  cents  per  dozen. 

"Anti-Slavery  Seals,  giving  a  fair  impress  of  a  shive  in 
ehains  on  sealing  wax,  price,  single,  20  cents. 

"  Plaster  images  of  a  slave  in  chains,  price,  single,  50  cts." 


198 

elusion,  that,  either  this  band  of  traitors  must  be 
crushed,  or  the  Union  abandoned.  They  cannot 
exist  together. 

Let  the  South  look  to  it.  We  have  demonstrated 
that  the  advocates  of  abolition  are  neither  few  nor 
feeble;  that  they  are  wealthy,  powerful  and  united; 
possessed  of  a  number  of  influential  presses;  and 
led  on  by  men  whose  intemperate  zeal  is  only 
equalled  by  their  untiring  energy.  Their  strength 
is  despised  because  it  is  not  known.  Let  him  who 
takes  an  interest  in  this  matter  examine  the  open 
evidence  of  facts;  let  him  observe  the  extended  and 
insidious  operation  of  presses,  agents  and  societies; 
let  him  mark  the  progress  and  results  of  these  ef 
forts  for  the  last  few  years;  and  then,  if  he  is  still 
incredulous,  and  still  secure,  he  may  sleep  on,  until 
he  is  roused  by  the  glare  of  the  midnight  conflagra 
tion,  or  startled  by  the  whoops  of  the  negro  at  his 
chamber  door. 

Let  the  North  beware.  Let  not  the  wise  and 
well  affected  regard  the  operations  of  the  incen 
diaries  with  a  sneer.  The  Union  and  its  glories, 
the  commerce  and  manufactures  of  the  North,  the 
peace  and  safety  of  the  South,  the  tranquillity,  integ 
rity,  and  honour  of  our  country  are  in  peril — in  im 
minent  peril.  If  the  abolitionists  are  permitted  to 
make  the  North  the  scene  of  a  warfare  the  most 
deadly  upon  the  South — it  is  vain  to  affect  igno 
rance  of  the  results — separation  is  inevitable.  We 
repeat,  they  must  be  crushed  or  the  Union  aban 
doned. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


The  course  of  the  Molitionists  prevents  abolition 
— Aggravates  the  condition  of  the  slaves,  fyc. 

THE  abolitionists  never  deign  to  weigh  the  con 
sequences  of  their  actions.     They  determine  that  a 
peculiar  course  is  required  by  an  accordance  with 
their  sublimated  notions  of  abstract  right,  and  pur 
sue  it,  wholly  regardless  of  the  results. — Are  they 
mad,  or  guilty,  or  both?    Think  they  that  they  can 
deluge   our  land   with   blood — and    preserve   their 
souls  from   the   crimson  taint  of  murder?     Think 
they  that  they  can   unloose  rapine,  and  lust,  and 
slaughter  upon  their  native  country — and  that  her 
shrieks  will  not  rise  to  Heaven  against  them?    Not 
responsible  for  the  consequences  of  their  madness! 
It  has  ever  been  the  plea  of  the  bigot  and  tyrant. 
The  darkest  crimes  on  record  have  been  committed 
under  the  frenzy,  real   or   affected,  of  fanaticism. 
Cities  have  been  wasted,  realms  destroyed,  in  the 
name  of  God.     But  will  God  hold  them   guiltless 
because  profanity  was  added  to  guilt,  and  His  holy 
name   impiously    borrowed   to    sanction   a  wanton 
waste  of  the  blood  of  his  creatures? 

In  the  responsibility  incurred  by  the  abolitionists, 
the  consequences  of  their  policy  to  the  slave,  will 
not  be  the  lightest  article.  If  slavery  be  the  evil 
they  proscribe,  how  much  have  they  to  answer  for 
in  its  perpetuation.  If  abolition  be  a  benevolent  and 
holy  scheme,  how  can  they  be  justified  for  the  pros- 


200 

tration  of  every  reasonable  hope  of  final  emancipa 
tion.  They  are  the  real  anti-abolitionists  of  the  land. 
They  are  the  worst  foes  of  the  slave.  Their  mad 
ness  has  riveted  his  chains;  and  if  his  freedom  be 
ever  attained,  it  will  be  when  their  reckless  opposi 
tion  to  the  rights  of  the  South  is  forgotten. 

They  admit  that  the  slave  can  only  be  emanci 
pated  by  his  master.  To  effect  that  result,  the  master 
must  be  convinced  and  conciliated.  What  measures 
have  they  taken  to  persuade  or  win  him  into  their 
views?  They  have  trampled  upon  his  rights — en 
dangered  his  property — denounced  him  in  the  vilest 
billingsgate  the  language  can  afford — excited  his 
slaves  to  discontent,  and  endangered  his  life,  and  the 
honour  of  his  wife  and  daughters.  Are  not  these 
most  winning  persuasives  to  abolition!  Is  not  this 
policy  certain  to  soothe  the  feelings,  sway  the  senti 
ments,  and  insure  the  confidence  of  the  slave-holder? 

"  The  truth  is,  and  it  must  be  suppressed  no 
longer — we  have  been  hired  to  abet  oppression,  to 
be  the  tool  of  tyrants — to  look  on  coolly,  while  ten 
millions  of  our  brethren  have  been  stripped  of  every 
right,  and  WORSE  THAN  MURDERED." — First  An 
nual  Report. 

"  The  man  who  seizes  another  in  New  York,  and 
drags  him  into  bondage,  (alluding  to  the  legal  arrest 
of  a  fugitive  slave,  under  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States)  whatever  laws  he  may  have  in  his 
favour,  is  to  be  REGARDED  AS  A  ROBBER 
AND  PIRATE!"—/foW. 

"  Slave-holding  is  PIRACY,  equally  atrocious  with 
slave-trading;  and  if  there  is  any  difference  in  crimi 
nality,  slave-holding  is  THE  WORST  OF  THE  TWO!" 
— Speech  of  Mr.  P helps. 

"  The  slave-states  are  SODOMS,  and  almost  every 
village  family  is  a  brothel." — SpeechofMr.  Thome. 

But  why  should  we  multiply  quotations?    Suffice 


201 

it  that  they  never  speak  of  them,  save  to  calumniate 
and  abuse  them — never  address  them  but  in  the  gen 
tle  and  paternal  language  of  "  robbers,"  "  pirates," 
"  tyrants,"  "  monsters,"  "  wretches,"  and  other  epi 
thets  of  an  equally  conciliatory  character.  And 
can  these  men  affect  to  believe  that  this  course  is 
prompted  by  a  sincere  desire  is  persuade  the  slave 
holder  to  free  his  slave! 

The  very  act  of  interference  itself  is  a  violation 
of  their  rights,  and  an  outrage  on  their  feelings.  If 
there  existed  a  disposition  in  favour  of  emancipation, 
this  act  of  indelicate  and  insulting  interference,  this 
pragmatical  and  irritating  violation  of  the  rights  and 
proprieties  of  social  life,  would  be  certain  to  extin 
guish  it.  If  slavery  be  an  evil — who  so  likely  to 
know  it  as  those  who  live  in  the  midst  of  it?  If 
slavery  be  cruel,  the  Southern  people  lack  neither 
religion  nor  benevolence,  and  would  be  just  as  likely 
to  feel  the  "  gentle  dint  of  pity"  without,  as  with, 
vituperation  and  insult.  Previous  to  the  movements 
of  the  abolitionists,  in  many  parts  of  the  South,  a 
disposition  favourable  to  emancipation  prevailed. 
They  would,  if  undisturbed,  have  done  all  that  was 
possible.  Foreign  interference,  while  it  has  natu 
rally  irritated  the  South,  has  rendered  any  act  tend 
ing  to  encourage  abolition,  altogether  dangerous  and 
imprudent.  They  will  not  allow  strangers  to  in 
trude  to  their  fire-sides  and  kick  them  into  certain 
measures;  and  if  they  were  so  singularly  destitute  of 
manly  spirit,  they  cannot  be  ignorant  that  such  a 
policy  would  be  attended  with  inevitable  destruc 
tion. 

The  abolitionists  have  been  at  work  for  years; 
they  have,  probably,  expended  hundreds  of  thou 
sands  of  dollars;  they  have  enlisted  the  sympathy 
and  aid  of  misguided  thousands — yet  what  good  have 
they  done?  Have  they  liberated  a  slave?  Not  one! 


202 

On  the  contrary,  the  process  of  individual  emanci 
pation  has  been  wholly  checked.  Have  they  con 
vinced  or  converted  a  single  slave-holder?  NOT 
ONE !  And  those  who  before  encouraged  the  hope 
of  eventual  emancipation — now  regard  the  scheme 
and  its  authors  with  abhorrence.  If  their  policy  have 
not  succeeded  in  attaining  a  single  advantage,  why 
persist  in  it?  If  their  past  exertions  have  not  won 
over  a  single  slave-holder,  their  future  efforts  can 
not.  Why  then  agitate  and  endanger  a  nation;  why 
expend  thousands,  not  only  without  benefit,  but  with 
out  the  reasonable  hope,  however  remote,  of  future 
advantage?  They  know  that  they  cannot  win  the 
slave-holder  into  the  support  of  their  schemes;  why 
persist  in  their  present  policy  ?  Because  the  pretence 
is  affected — is  the  mask  of  deep  and  dangerous  de 
signs  upon  the  slaves.  The  abolitionists  are  not  all 
insane;  they  do  not  spend  their  money,  exert  their 
talents,  and  waste  their  time,  in  a  hopeless  and  ab 
surd  attempt  to  win  the  master.  They  care  not  for 
his  aid.  Years  ago  they  said  in  the  Emancipator, 
"  Slavery  will  never  be  abolished  until  it  is  done 
BY  THE  SWORD,  or  the  fear  of  the  sword;" 
and  added,  that  "  the  slaves  will  soon  be  free." 
This  was  then,  and  still  is  the  policy.  They  cry 
peace,  peace — but  pursue  a  course  which  is  designed 
to  end,  and  must  end  (unless  the  South  erect  herself 
and  interpose  the  only  shield  which  can  ward  off 
the  blow,)  in  a  servile  war,  and  render  the  whole 
South  a  Pandemonium,  from  which  the  shout  of 
exulting  rapine,  and  the  shriek  of  murder  and  vio 
lation  will  go  forth. 

"  But  the  slave  has  cause  to  reproach  the  aboli 
tionist,  not  merely  for  the  prostration  of  all  future 
hope  of  emancipation,  but  for  the  aggravation  of  his 
present  condition.  It  is  impossible  that  the  intem 
perate  advocacy  of  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves, 


203 

can  fail  to  excite  the  prejudice  and  ill-feeling  of  a 
majority  of  the  slave-holders;  and  it  is  equally  im 
possible  to  prevent  a  share  of  those  feelings  being 
extended  to  the  unfortunate  object  of  the  abolitionist's 
benevolence.  Even  where  the  irritating  interference 
of  the  abolitionists  is  insufficient  to  alienate  the  kind 
ness  of  the  master  from  the  slave,  it  succeeds  in  cre 
ating  danger  and  suspicion.  The  slave,  misled  by 
his  new  friends,  becomes  discontented  and  refrac 
tory;  the  master  loses  his  confidence,  and  measures 
of  precaution  and  restraint  become  absolutely  ne 
cessary.  The  Charleston  Courier,  speaking  of  these 
fruits  of  abolition,  says: — "It  is  certain  that  their 
labours  thus  far  have  produced  only  evil  to  the  race 
which  they  have  selected  as  the  objects  of  their  de 
vilish  philanthropy.  At  the  North  they  have  raised 
the  mob  against  the  property  and  lives  of  their  sable 
proteges,  and  at  the  South  they  have  only  added  to 
the  rigor  of  the  code  noir,  and  caused  a  repeal  of 
laws  permitting  emancipation." 

Another  moderate  and  respectable  Southern  jour 
nal  says, — "  They  certainly  cannot  be  assured  of  the 
detestation  in  which  they  are  already  held  by  the 
free  blacks  of  the  South,  whose  happiness  and  liberty 
they  have  sensibly  abridged,  and  whose  lives,  in 
some  instances,  they  have  put  in  jeopardy.  Even 
those  of  the  slaves  who  have  heard  of  them,  curse 
their  names  as  the  authors  of  numerous  vexations 
and  privations  to  which  they  are  now  necessarily 
subjected.  The  inquisitorial  visits,  patroles,  searches, 
confinement  to  plantations — the  refusal  of  usual  in 
dulgences,  and  the  exaction  of  additional  duties,  are 
all  the  fruits  of  fanaticism.  The  blacks,  who  see 
and  know  the  cause,  would  be  as  ready  to  inflict 
summary  vengeance  upon  Tappan,  Garrison,  Cox, 
Thompson,  arid  their  co-labourers,  as  their  masters. 
Do  the  incendiaries  know  that  they  are  absolutely 


204 

riveting  the  chains  they  profess  to  wish  to  see 
loosened?  We  should  think  not.  But  let  them  be 
satisfied  that  such  is  the  fact/' 

The  following  from  the  Richmond  Inquirer  is  also 
entitled  to  attention. 

"  These  men  are  not  only  impertinent,  but  per 
nicious  intermeddlers.  They  not  only  bring  mis 
chief  upon  the  whites,  but  they  aggravate  the  very 
evils  which  they  profess  to  remedy.  They  strengthen 
the  cord  of  slavery  itself.  They  compel  us  to  treat 
them  with  a  severity  which  is  as  painful  to  the  slave 
as  it  is  irksome  to  the  owner.  A  regard  for  our  own 
security  must  impose  upon  them  additional  restric 
tions — and  in  case  these  vile  miscreants  should  ever 
succeed  in  raising  rebellion  among  them,  they  alone 
will  be  held  responsible,  in  the  eyes  of  God  and 
man,  for  all  the  blood  which  will  flow.  It  is  thus 
that  they  are  doing  serious  mischief,  both  to  the 
whites  and  to  the  blacks — aggravating  the  very  evil 
which  they  profess  to  palliate." 

In  confirmation  of  these  statements  we  subjoin  an 
extract  from  the  address  of  the  members  of  the 
African  Methodist  Church  of  Baltimore. 

"  We  do  most  firmly  and  sincerely  believe,  that 
the  dissemination  of  inflammatory  appeals  addressed 
mainly  to  the  prejudices  and  passions,  without  re 
ference  to  reason,  instead  of  promoting  the  object 
professed  to  be  had  in  view,  will  greatly  aggravate 
the  evils  already  existing,  and  create  others  of  a  far 
more  alarming  and  calamitous  nature;  will  render 
the  situation  of  that  portion  of  the  coloured  people 
now  in  possession  of  liberty,  awfully  precarious — 
rivet  the  fetter  still  more  closely  on  the  slave,  and 
jeopard  the  prosperity  and  happiness,  nay,  the  life 
itself,  of  the  whole  population  of  the  southern  states, 
both  white  and  black. 

"The  conviction  thus  expressed  is  the  rational 


205 

consequence  of  cool  and  deliberate  reflection  on  the 
subject,  when  contemplated  abstractly  and  without 
regard  to  actual  occurrences;  but  it  has  been  power 
fully  corroborated  by  the  developements  which  have 
already  attended  the  efforts  of  the  licentious  and 
misguided  fanaticism  now  in  progress.  But  a  short 
time  has  elapsed  since  all  of  us  were  permitted  to 
worship  God  undisturbedly  in  our  own  sanctuaries, 
under  our  own  vine  and  fig-tree — since  we  were 
protected  in  the  enjoyment  of  civil  privileges,  and 
allowed  a  common  participation  with  our  white 
brethren,  in  many  of  the  comforts  of  domestic  life. 
Now,  in  many  sections  of  the  country,  both  north 
and  south  of  us,  our  congregation  for  religious  ex 
ercises  is  either  prohibited  altogether,  or  watched 
with  a  jaundiced  eye;  the  civil  blessings  with  which 
we  were  measurably  favoured  are  denied  or  re 
stricted;  our  most  innocent  actions  are  exposed  to 
the  scrutiny  of  suspicion;  and  our  homes  and  fire 
sides  threatened  with  ruin. 

"  Influenced  by  these  considerations,  and  deter 
mined  by  the  harmless  rectitude  of  our  deportment 
to  manifest  our  heartfelt  and  unconquerable  abhor 
rence  of  the  atrocious  attempts  of  mistaken,  hot 
headed  zealots  to  plunge  the  country  into  anarchy 
and  discord,  and  to  deluge  it  with  torrents  of  blood, 
we  do  hereby  sacredly  pledge  ourselves  not  to  re 
ceive  any  of  the  vile,  mischievous,  and  incendiary 
publications,  now  so  industriously  scattered  abroad; 
to  arrest  the  circulation  of  such  as  may  come  under 
our  observation — of  which  we  respectfully  ask  the 
postmasters  to  take  notice — and  to  destroy  them  with 
out  perusal;  and,  in  fine,  by  every  effort  within  our 
power,  to  put  a  period  to  the  operations  of  this  en 
gine  of  bloodshed  and  torture.  We  do  most  earnestly 
entreat  those  over  whom  we  have  any  control  or 
influence,  either  officially  or  as  friends,  to  co-operate 
18 


206 

with  us  in  the  suppression  of  this  most  pernicious 
— this  fatal  evil — to  lend  their  most  ardent  and 
cheerful  endeavours  to  prevent  the  diffusion  of  a 
spirit  of  insubordination  and  rebellion.  And  being 
fully  persuaded  that  our  opinions  faithfully  and  truly 
reflect  those1  of  the  church  to  which  we  are  attached, 
we  do  most  unfeignedly  and  anxiously  beseech  those 
engaged  in  the  propagation  of  abolition  principles, 
and  the  distribution  of  abolition  tracts,  periodicals, 
and  pamphlets,  to  abstain  from  their  unasked  and 
unwelcome  interference  in  our  concerns,  and  if  they 
have  a  spark  of  compassion,  sympathy,  or  philan 
thropy  in  their  bosoms,  to  permit  us  to  enjoy  our 
existence  in  security  and  peace." 

To  this  eloquent  and  affecting  appeal — this  pa 
thetic  detail  of  the  sufferings  visited  upon  the 
blacks  of  the  South,  by  the  sinister  efforts  of  their 
false  friends — the  abolitionists  alone  could  be  in 
sensible.  Careless  of  the  consequences,  they  go  on. 
The  union  of  the  States  may  be  sundered  by  their 
madness — still  they  persist;  the  afflicted  patriots  of 
their  country  beseech  them  to  forbear — but  they 
heed  it  not;  the  unhappy  objects  of  their  affected 
benevolence  implore  them  to  desist — but  onward 
still,  over  the  trampled  constitution,  the  peace,  the 
hopes,  and  the  happiness  of  their  country,  they  stride 
forward  to  their  object.  Such  is  their  philanthropy.* 

*  A  late  number  of  the  Emancipator  contains  the  following 
article.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  abolitionists  are  aware  of  the 
dreadful  consequences  of  their  policy — but  are  determined  to 
persevere  in  it.  It  will  be  seen  also  that  while  they  acknow 
ledge  the  calamitous  tendency  of  their  course,  their  only  re 
sponse  is — "  Let  them  drive  out  missionaries  and  school 
teachers — bury  the  key  of  knowledge — double  the  fetters,  and 
lengthen  the  lash."  Such  is  their  kindness  and  affection  for 
the  slaves.  Their  direct  aim  is  also  acknowledged  to  be,  riot  to 
convince  the  slave-holder,  but  to  excite  others  against  him. 
"To  use  this  very  madness  and  cruelty  of  the  slave-holder  as 


207 

They  would  wade  to  their  purpose  through  a  sea  of 
kindred  blood — cheer  on  the  hell-hounds  of  civil 
war,  and  in  their  horrible  triumph,  while  the  shrieks 
of  an  expiring  land  ring  in  their  ears,  \vave  above 
the  scene  the  crimson  and  reeking  banner  of  Phi 
lanthropy! 

an  argument  to  rouse  the  Christian  world  against  the  sin  of 
slavery." 

"  The.  fruits  of  Abolitionism. — Some  enemies  of  immediate 
emancipation,  with  great  apparent  delight,  point  us  to  the  pre 
sent  state  of  the  South.  '  There,'  say  they,  '  we  told  you  so. 
See  the  masters  exasperated,  and  recanting  all  their  purposes 
of  ultimate  emancipation.  See  the  slave  bound  in  double 
fetters.  See  the  free  coloured  man  persecuted,  and  trembling 
with  fear  of  banishment  or  death.  See  the  schools  for  the 
coloured  people  all  shut,  and  the  last  rays  of  hope  and  know 
ledge  blotted  out  together.  See  every  Northern  man  who  had 
visited  the  South  on  an  errand  of  mercy,  fleeing  for  his  life. 
This  is  the  fruit  of  your  labours.' 

"Some,  we  can  hardly  call  them  friends  of  the  oppressed, 
may  be  persuaded  by  such  arguments  to  give  over.  They 
may  say,  '  We  have  borne  our  testimony,  but  it  is  of  no  avail ; 
now,  therefore,  let  us  wash  our  hands  of  the  guilt,  and  leave 
the  slave-holders  to  themselves.'  Not  so,  brethren — we  have 
more  to  do.  Thousands  of  prayers  are  going  up  to  God  daily, 
from  those  who  in  the  midst  of  slavery,  have  not  bowed  the 
knee  to  Baal,  for  our  perseverance.  Let  them  drive  out  mis 
sionaries  and  school-teachers — bury  the  key  of  knowledge — 
double  the  fetters,  and  lengthen  the  lash.  Let  them  destroy 
or  banish  every  man  who  will  not  receive  on  his  forehead 
the  brand  of  the  monster — perpetual  slavery. — What  is  the 
language  of  God's  providence  to  usl  Clearly  this  :  To  use 
this  very  madness  and  cruelty  of  the  slave-holders  as  an  argument 
to  rouse  the  Christian  world  against  the  SIN  OF  SLAVERY." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


Course  of  the  abolitionists  a  violation  of  the 
Constitution — Jin  infraction  of  the  rights  and 
the  laws  of  the  South,  fyc. 

IN  discussing  the  subject  of  Domestic  Slavery  in 
this  country,  it  is  proper  that  we  should  refer  spe 
cially  and  distinctly  to  the  sovereign  rights. of  the 
Southern  states  on  this  question  and  all  minor  ques 
tions  arising  from  it.  It  is,  however,  scarcely  ne 
cessary  to  prove  what  is  not  doubted,  or  to  urge  the 
truth  of  assertions  which  no  individual  in  the  coun 
try  will  venture  to  deny. 

The  rights  of  the  South  do  not  exist  under,  but 
ver,  the  Constitution.  They  existed  before  this 
Government  was  called  into  being.  The  Constitu 
tion  is  rather  sanctioned  by  them,  than  they  by  the 
Constitution.  Had  not  that  instrument  admitted 
the  sovereignty  of  those  rights,  it  would  never  have 
itself  been  admitted  by  the  South.  It  bowed  in 
deference  to  rights  older  in  their  date,  stronger  in 
their  claims,  and  holier  in  their  nature,  than  any 
which  the  Constitution  of  the  confederacy  can 
boast. 

Let  no  man  then  deceive  himself.  Let  him  not 
think  that  the  rights  of  the  South  may  be  changed 
by  a  change  of  our  national  Constitution.  Those 
rights  are  out  of  the  reach  of  the  nation  as  a  nation. 
The  confederacy  may  crumble  to  pieces,  the  Con- 


209 

stitution  may  pass  away — but  these  rights  will  re 
main  unshaken — will  exist  while  the  South  exists — 
and  when  they  fall — the  South  will  perish  with 
them.  It  will  be  admitted,  that  the  states  which 
entered  into  the  compact  of  Union  were  possessed, 
individually,  of  full  sovereignty,  and  were  as  inde 
pendent  of  any  and  all  earthly  power  as  nations  can 
be.  If  they  were  not  thus  sovereign  and  indepen 
dent,  they  had  no  authority  or  power  to  enter  into 
the  articles  of  confederation. 

It  will  be  admitted,  that  in  entering  into  this  con 
federacy,  and  in  adopting  the  Constitution  of  1787, 
they  lost  none  of  their  exclusive  right  of  legisla 
tion  on  the  subject  of  domestic  slavery  in  their  own 
borders,  but  remained,  as  to  that  question,  as 
sovereign  and  independent  as  at  first. 

It  will  be  admitted,  that  instead  of  losing  any 
of  their  high  and  sovereign  power  on  the  subject 
referred  to,  that  power  was  expressly  reserved  both 
in  the  articles  of  confederation  and  in  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  non-slave- 
holding  states  not  only  admitted  and  sanctioned  it, 
but  bound  themselves  to  restore  fugitive  slaves 
from  the  South,  and  to  secure  a  representation  based 
upon  the  slave  population. 

It  will  be  admitted,  that  the  rights  of  the  slave* 
holding  states  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  have  never 
been  surrendered,  never  been  questioned,  never  been 
weakened  nor  diminished;  that  they  are,  in  rela 
tion  to  that  question,  what  they  were  before  they 
entered  into  the  confederation,  sovereign  and  inde 
pendent;  and  that  the  non-slaveholding  states  are, 
in  reference  to  the  same  question,  what  they  were 
before  that  compact — foreign  communities. 

Virginia  or  South  Carolina,  then,  has,  in  refer 
ence  to  the  subject  of  slavery,  no  more  connexion 
with  us  than  Russia  or  Great  Britain;  we  have  no 
13* 


210 

greater  right  to  interfere  with  her  domestic  legisla 
tion  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  than  with  the  inter 
nal  relations  of  those  kingdoms;  nor  is  she  under 
any  greater  obligation  than  they  would  be,  to  sub 
mit  to  such  interference,  without  vindicating  her 
rights,  and  punishing  those  who  dare  to  disturb  her 
tranquillity. 

If  a  Northern  State  directly  violates  these  rights, 
or  permits  her  citizens  to  do  so,*  she  not  only 
breaks  the  compact,  but  makes  it  the  duty  of  the 
injured  state  to  defend  herself,  as  an  independent 
state  should,  from  a  violation  of  her  sovereignty. 

The  non-slaveholding  states  entered  into  this 
union  with  their  eyes  open.  They  knew  that  the 
compact  was  subject  to  this  reservation.  They 
pledged  themselves  to  observe  it.  Every  thing 
sacred  to  us  as  patriots,  Americans,  and  men  stands 
pledged  for  our  honourable  adherence  to  the  faith 
then  plighted — the  promise  then  solemnly  and  un- 
derstandingly  extended. 

Did  our  fathers  right?  No  union  could  have  been 
effected  unless  the  rights  of  the  South  had  been 
thus  secured.  Conscious  of  this,  they  were  willing 
to  suffer  what  they  could  not  cure,  and  gave  their 
sanction  to  the  only  union  that  could  have  been 
formed.  The  result  has  shown  that  they  were 
right.  Our  people  have  prospered.  The  friends 
of  freedom,  humanity,  and  religion  throughout  the 
world,  have  reason  to  rejoice  in  the  compromise 
then  entered  into. 

The  North  is  not  responsible,  morally  nor  politi 
cally,  for  the  existence  of  slavery  in  this  country. 

*  The  sovereign  who  refuses  to  cause  a  reparation  to  be 
made  of  the  damage  caused  by  his  subject,  or  to  punish  th« 
guilty,  or,  in  short,  to  deliver  him  up,  renders  himself  in 
some  measure  an  accomplice  in  the  injury,  and  becomes  re 
sponsible  for  it. —  Falters  Law  of  Nations. 


211 

It  never  had,  has  not  now,  and  never  will  have, 
power  over  the  subject.  If  it  be  a  sin,  the  blame 
rests  not  upon  the  North — if  it  be  a  curse,  the 
North,  at  least,  is  not  blasted  by  it.  The  North 
has  not  been  compelled  to  pay  for  the  support  of 
the  South;  she  has  not  been  taxed  to  encourage  her 
labour,  nor  have  her  exports  passed  through  her 
ports  and  given  the  breath  of  life  to  her  commerce. 
The  North  need  not  trouble  her  conscience  nor 
excite  her  sympathies,  in  relation  to  the  sins  or  the 
afflictions  of  the  South.  The  South  will  bear  her 
afflictions  with  what  fortitude  she  may;  and  as  for 
the  sins  which  excite  so  holy  a  horror  in  the  bosoms 
of  the  immaculate  abolitionists,  she  will  take  care 
that  the  North  is  not  burthened  with  any  accounta 
bility  for  them.  Let  the  North  stand  off,  and  all 
will  be  well. 

It  ought  not  to  be  necessary  to  urge  the  obligation, 
which  requires  us  to  regard,  with  reverence,  the 
sacred  charter  of  our  national  existence.  It  ought 
not  to  be  necessary  to  remind  any  portion  of  our 
people,  that  honour,  probity,  patriotism  require 
us  to  observe  its  provisions.  If  the  violator  of  the 
law  be  entitled  to  punishment  and  abhorrence,  what 
should  be  the  penalty  of  him  who  strikes  at  the 
source  of  all  law;  who  would  tear  asunder  the 
bond  which  unites  millions  happily  together,  and 
leave  our  country  to  all  the  horrors  of  jarring  an 
archy  and  lawless  violence?  If  any  thing  be  enti 
tled  to  reverence  or  regard,  it  is  our  sacred  Consti 
tution — the  barrier  which  protects  us  from  popular 
turbulence,  from  intestine  war,  from  social  and 
political  confusion  and  collision.  The  consequence 
of  its  downfall  or  of  the  violation  of  its  provisions,  no 
faney  can  adequately  conceive.  All  that  we  desire 
as  a  people  is  attained — all  that  we  fear  is  avoided, 
by  its  aid.  Let  it  be  destroyed,  whether  by  open 


212 

violence,  or  insidious  opposition,  and  where  will 
the  consequences  terminate?  Will  the  violator  pause 
there;  or,  having  trampled  on  the  charter  of  the 
country,  will  he  strike  at  those  of  the  states,  and 
break  down  all  the  barriers  which  protect  weakness 
and  innocence  from  lawless  and  brutal  force?  Let 
the  principle  be  established,  that  a  direct  and  solemn 
political  compact  may  be  vacated,  without  moral 
offence,  by  scheming  and  ambitious  individuals — 
and  human  foresight  cannot  anticipate  the  calami 
ties  which  will  ensue. 

There  may  be,  particularly  in  this  country,  trea 
son  without  overt  crime,  which,  though  secured 
from  the  penalty  of  our  lenient  code — is  still,  in 
the  eye  of  reason  and  justice,  and  before  God  and 
man,  the  basest  treason.  An  evasion  of  an  obliga 
tion  is  as  great  a  moral  offence  as  its  violation.  The 
prosecution  of  an  insidious  but  energetic  war  upon 
the  slave-holding  members  of  the  Union — upon 
their  liberties  as  states,  and  their  existence  as  com 
munities,  must  be  regarded  as  a  crime  of  the  most 
dangerous  and  guilty  character.  The  traitor  who 
stabs  at  the  life  or  honour  of  his  country,  in  the 
mask  of  piety,  and  from  behind  a  legal  quibble,  is 
as  guilty  as  the  open  desperado  who  strikes  at  her 
in  the  face  of  day,  and  before  all  the  world. 

The  abolitionists,  in  urging  their  designs  against 
the  South,  are  guilty  of  infringing  the  acknowledged 
rights  of  those  states;  of  disregarding  their  own 
solemnly  pledged  faith  to  observe  those  rights,  as 
sanctioned  by  the  Federal  compact;  and  of  violat 
ing  that  sense  of  propriety  and  duty,  which  requires 
that  we  should  respect  the  domestic  privileges  and 
pursuits  of  others. 

Can  this  course  of  conduct  result  in  any  advan 
tage  to  the  objects  of  their  benevolence,  or  to  their 
white  brethren  of  the  South?  It  menaces  evil  to 


213 

both.  It  seeks  to  effect  evil.  It  looks  to  revolu 
tion;  it  teaches  that  the  Constitution  is  "null  and 
void,"  when  opposed  to  their  schemes;  and  contem 
plates  the  prostration  of  every  right,  the  dissolution 
of  every  tie,  and  the  disregard  of  every  obligation 
between  them  and  the  object  of  their  ill-omened 
ambition. 

The  Southern  states  have  passed  laws,  prohibit 
ing  the  dissemination  of  incendiary  publications 
within  their  borders,  and  denouncing  severe  penal 
ties  against  the  offenders.  In  some  states  the  offence  is 
capital,  and  is  punished  with  death.  The  abolition 
ists,  who  send  such  publications  into  the  state,  vio 
late  these  laws  and  incur  their  penalties.  It  is  of 
no  consequence  in  what  manner  they  commit  the 
crime,  whether  through  the  medium  of  the  mails 
or  by  private  emissaries;  it  is  equally  unimportant 
whether  they  are  within  the  borders  of  the  state  at 
the  time  they  committed  the  outrage  upon  its 
laws — the  crime  is  equally  great,  and  equally  cer 
tain.  It  may  be  alleged,  in  extenuation  of  the 
offence,  that  the  offender  is  beyond  the  reach  of 
justice:  the  same  plea  would  palliate  the  crime  of 
the  fugitive  murderer.  The  offence  is  committed; 
the  laws  are  violated;  the  crime  is  registered  in 
heaven;  and  the  criminal  stands  accountable  to  his 
own  conscience  and  to  God,  as  a  felon — one  who,  if 
justice  had  its  way,  would  perish  ingnominiously 
on  the  scaffold.  Such  is  the  nature  of  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  abolitionists.  They  are  guilty  of  a 
CAPITAL  CRIME — a  crime  which  is  regarded  by 
those  authorised  to  decide,  as  equal  in  guilt  and 
peril,  to  MURDER.  Yet  they  ask  and  obtain  the 
aid  of  Christians;  they  call  themselves  philanthro 
pists,  and  expect  the  praise  and  support  of  the 
lovers  of  virtue,  peace,  and  order. 

So  clear  and  distinct  is  their  offence,  so  full  the 


214 

evidence  of  its  commission,  that,  should  they  be 
found  within  the  borders  of  the  states  whose  laws 
they  have  violated,  they  would  be  at  once  arrested, 
tried,  and  doubtless  found  guilty  and  hung.  In 
deed,  as  it  is,  there  are  great  doubts  whether  the 
Southern  states  may  not  demand  them  from  the 
states  in  which  they  now  reside,  as  fugitives  from 
justice.  Many  profound  jurists  regard  the  right 
of  the  South  to  demand,  and  the  duty  of  the  North 
to  give  up,  these  violators  of  the  law,  as  clear  and 
unquestionable. 

The  following  able  exposition  of  these  views, 
extracted  from  the  New  York  Courier  and  Enquir 
er,  merits  an  attentive  perusal. 

"  If  Tappan  be  guilty  of  violation  of  the  laws  of 
the  South,  and  can  be  proved  guilty,  let  some  of 
the  Southern  executives  demand  him  as  a  criminal 
at  the  hands  of  our  executive,  and  if  their  demand 
be  legal  he  will  doubtless  be  surrendered. 

"If  the  distribution  of  inflammatory  and  sedi 
tious  papers  in  any  Southern  state,  be  an  offence 
against  their  laws,  and  if  it  can  be  proved  that 
Arthur  Tappan  has  delivered  or  caused  to  be  de 
livered,  in  such  state  or  states,  papers  coming  with 
in  the  bearing  of  the  enactments — then  we  believe 
that  on  such  charge  he  may  be  legally  demanded, 
and  must  be  surrendered. 

"The  objections  to  this  are:  Firstly,  that  the  al- 
ledged  offence  is  not  here  capital.  But  what  of  that? 
In  some  of  our  states  rape  is  not  while  in  others  it 
is  a  capital  felony.  But  let  a  ravisher  commit  his 
crime  in  a  state  wherein  that  crime  is  punished — as 
it  should  be  punished  every  where — with  death, 
and  let  him  subsequently  to  the  commission,  escape 
into  a  state  by  whose  enactment  the  punishment  is 
milder — that  ravisher  might  be  demanded  and 
would  be  ceded  to  be  tried,  and  if  guilty,  to  suffer, 


215 

according  the  code  of  that  state  wherein  the  offence 
is  committed. 

"  Therefore,  if  Arthur  Tappan  has  committed  in 
all  or  any  of  the  Southern  states,  a  crime  punished 
capitally  in  such  states  or  state — he  may  be  demand 
ed  and  must  be  surrendered  to  be  tried  and  to  suffer 
— if  proved  guilty — according  to  the  laws  of  that 
state. 

"  Again  it  is  contended  that  the  crime  of  Arthur 
Tappan — if  a  crime  by  the  laws  of  any  Southern 
state — is  not  committed  in  that  state. 

"In  answer  to  this  statement,  we  will  first  ad 
vance  an  argument,  and  a  most  strong  one,  which  has 
been  brought  to  bear  on  this  point  before,  as  we  find 
by  an  article  in  the  Charleston  Courier,  wherein  it 
is  demonstrated — that  in  England  the  author  of  a 
libellous  paper  is  tried  by  the  laws  and  jury  of  the 
place  wherein  the  libellous  paper  is  delivered  at  the 
post  office — not  at  the  place  where  it  is  composed. 
And  that  such  author  is  transferred  by  the  sheriff  of 
his  own  county  to  the  sheriff  of  that  next  adjoining, 
till  he  be  delivered  for  trial  at  the  place  wrherein  the 
libel  was  committed  by  the  delivery  of  the  libel- 
lous  paper  at  the  office.  Now  if  this  be  true  of 
libellous  papers  it  is  much  more  true  of  seditious 
papers;  and  if  the  delivery  of  these  papers  be  sedi 
tious  at  Charleston,  the  crime  of  sedition  was  com 
mitted  at  Charleston,  and  Arthur  Tappan  may  be 
demanded  to  take  his  trial  for  sedition  at  Charles 
ton.  And  in  this  state,  as  we  happen  to  know,  the 
law  is  similar  to  the  law  in  England.  In  the  case 
of  Root  vs.  King  for  a  libel,  the  venire  was  laid  in 
Delaware  County,  the  residence  of  the  Plaintiff,  and 
there  the  question  of  libel  was  tried.  And  recent 
ly,  in  our  own  case,  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  County 
of  Sullivan  found  an  indictment  against  us  for  the 
publication  of  an  alleged  libel  on  the  Post-master 


216 

at  Monticello  in  Sullivan  county,  and  although  the 
libel  was  published  in  the  county  of  New  York, 
we  were  tried,  and  if  found  guilty,  would  have 
been  punished  in  the  former  county.  The  same 
rule  of  law  should,  we  conceive,  be  applicable  to 
states  as  to  counties  in  this  instance;  but  we  have 
a  still  stronger  argument  in  favor  of  our  position. 

"  A  citizen  of  New  York,  resident  in  this  state, 
suborns  another,  or  directly  instigates  him  to  go 
into  South  Carolina  and  there  commit  a  murder, — 
thereby  rendering  himself  an  accessary  before  the 
fact  to  murder,  and  therefore  liable  to  capital  pun 
ishment.  The  murder  is  committed  in  South  Caro 
lina — the  murderer  escapes  to  New  York — is  de 
manded,  and  of  course  delivered  up  to  take  his  trial 
at  the  place  wherein  the  murder  was  committed. 
On  his  trial,  proof  is  developed  of  the  agency  in 
the  murder  of  an  accessary  before  the  fact  to  this 
murder  committed  in  South  Carolina,  who  is  a  resi 
dent  of  New  York,  which  place  he  has  not  quitted. 
Where  would  that  accessary  be  tried? — clearly 
in  the  place  where  the  crime  to  which  he  was  an 
accessary  was  committed.  On  this  point  no  one  we 
presume  can  entertain  a  doubt;  otherwise,  as  he 
cannot  be  tried  in  New  York  as  an  accessary  to  a 
crime  not  committed  within  her  jurisdiction,  he 
would  escape  punishment. 

"  If,  then,  this  be  true  in  a  case  of  murder,  it 
must  be  equally  true  in  case  of  Treason;  and  if  the 
putting  into  circulation  of  the  abolition  pamphlets 
in  South  Carolina  be  treason — and  if  it  can  be 
proved  that  Arthur  Tappan  be  accessary  before  the 
fact  to  the  putting  into  circulation  of  those  pam 
phlets  in  South  Carolina — then  is  Arthur  Tappan, 
though  he  has  not  quitted  New  York,  accessary  be 
fore  the  fact  to  treason  committed  in  South  Caro 
lina. 


217 

"  And  again,  if  the  circulation  of  abolition  pam 
phlets  be  a  capital  offence  in  Carolina,  and  if  persons 
charged  with  capital  offences  be  mutually  delivera 
ble  between  the  states  of  the  Union  as  the  Consti 
tution  provides,  then  Arthur  Tappan,  as  accessary 
before  the  fact  to  a  capital  offence  committed  in 
South  Carolina,  may  be  demanded  at  the  hands  of 
our  Executive,  and  if  demanded  must  be  delivered 
up  to  take  his  trial  in  South  Carolina." 

If  the  South  have  not,  under  the  Constitution,  the 
right  to  demand  and  punish  those  who  stand  on  her 
borders,  and  fling  amid  her  slaves  incendiary  and 
seditious  publications — it  is  to  be  regretted  that  so 
important  and  necessary  a  protection  was  not  pro 
vided.  Those  who  are  willing  to  violate  the  laws 
and  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  a  state  of  this  Union, 
should  find  no  shelter  from  its  sister  states. 

But  it  may  be  doubted  whether,  if  this  right  were 
fully  conceded  to  the  South,  she  would  descend  to 
exercise  it.  The  wrong  comes,  not  from  individu 
als,  but  from  a  party  in  the  North,  which  is  per 
mitted,  by  those  states,  to  prosecute  a  systematic 
and  organized  war  against  the  rights  and  the  peace 
of  the  South.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  North  to  crush 
them;*  and  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  South  to 
secure  individuals  of  the  mass,  would  be  unworthy 
her  dignity,  and  inadequate  to  the  prostration,  or 
even  the  discouragement  of  the  conspiracy  against 
her. 

*  What  would  you  say,  if  your  own  operatives  were  to 
become  discontented  and  rebellious — threatening  your  houses 
with  the  torch  and  your  families  with  the  knife — and  if  we 
were  to  erect  presses  in  our  own  bosom  to  print  and  circulate 
papers  to  blow  them  into  flame"?  Would  you  not  call  upon 
us,  to  interfere  for  their  suppression  1 — And  may  we  not 
call  upon  you  in  the  like  spirit'? — Richmond  Enquirer. 
19 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


The.  Abolition  of  Slavery  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia. 

THE  abolitionists,  with  all  their  presumption,  do 
not  venture  to  assert  that  Congress  has  a  right  to 
legislate  on  the  slave  question  for  the  States.  They 
do  not,  however,  hesitate  to  allege  the  existence,  and 
claim  the  exercise  of  that  right  in  the  District  of 
Columbia.  They  have  turned  their  whole  force 
against  this  District.  Falsehoods  and  calumnies 
against  the  slave-holders  of  the  District  are  circu 
lated  throughout  the  Union;  and  the  people  of  the 
remotest  States  are  told,  with  all  the  declamatory 
cant  of  the  abolition  school,  that,  for  the  atrocities 
thus  conjured  up  and  presented  to  their  imagina 
tions,  they  are  responsible.  They  are  called  upon, 
therefore,  by  every  consideration,  to  clear  their  skirts 
from  the  horrid  sin,  by  insisting  on  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District.  Great  efforts  are  made  to 
procure  petitions  to  Congress  on  the  subject;  and  it 
is  probable  that  their  application  will  be  presented 
during  the  ensuing  session,  with  several  thousand 
names  attached  to  it.  The  following  is  a  copy  of 
one  of  the  petitions  in  circulation. 

"  To  the  honourable  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America: 

The  petition  of  the  undersigned,  citizens  of , 

humbly  sheweth,  That  your  petitioners  feel  them 
selves  bound  by  their  duty  to  their  country,  to  their 


219 

fellow-men,  and  to  their  God,  to  protest  against  the 
continuance  of  SLAVERY  and  the  SLAVE-TRADE  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  and  to  pray  your  honour 
able  bodies  to  exercise  your  constitutional  powers 
for  their  immediate  abolition. 

"  Remembering  that  the  traffic  in  hitman  flesh, 
when  practised  on  the  ocean,  has  been  solemnly  de 
clared  piracy  by  our  own,  and  that  it  is  so  considered 
by  almost  all  Christian  nations,  your  petitioners  do 
most  earnestly  implore  that  slavery,  the  necessary 
cause  of  the  traffic,  may  no  longer  be  permitted  to 
exist  in  the  Capital  of  this  Republic." 

The  subject  thus  forced  upon  the  attention  of  our 
people,  is  one  involving  the  most  momentous  con 
siderations.  Fully  understood,  the  scheme  of  abo 
lition  in  the  District,  must  be  generally  reprehended. 
It  may  be  regarded  as  the  outposts  of  the  great  ques 
tion;  and,  if  carried,  will  insure  a  final  and  complete 
triumph  to  the  conspirators  in  all  their  designs. 

The  general  government  has  no  right  to  abolish 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

The  framers  of  the  constitution  could  never  have 
intended  to  give  to  the  government  jurisdiction  over 
this  delicate  subject.  So  far  as  they  could,  they  se 
cured  to  the  South  exclusive  control  of  the  slave 
question.  The  difficulty  before  us  could  not  be  fore 
seen  by  them,  or  express  provisions  would  have  been 
made  to  secure  the  country  from  this  species  of  agi 
tation.  The  South  would  never  have  sanctioned  a 
constitution  which  gave  to  the  general  government 
any  power,  direct  or  indirect,  to  legislate  on  the 
slave  question.  They  denied  that  power  then,  as 
they  deny  it  now.  They  would  not  then  submit  to 
it;  and  subsequent  events  have  induced  no  change 
of  sentiment  or  feeling. 

The  constitution,  which  so  expressly  withheld 
from  the  general  government  the  power  of  legislation 


220 

on  the  subject  of  slavery,  could  not  have  designed 
to  give  it  the  power  of  agitation — a  power  which 
would  have  annihilated  all  restraints,  and  laid  the 
domestic  rights  of  the  South  at  the  very  feet  of  the 
central  government.  Let  the  general  government 
but  possess  and  exercise  a  right  to  agitate  the  subject 
of  slavery  in  the  South,  to  use  the  influence  of  her 
public  councils,  the  power  of  her  immense  patronage, 
and  of  the  treasury  of  the  country — and  she  will  not 
need  the  empty  privilege  of  legislation.  The  South 
will  be  completely  at  her  mercy. 

Should  the  abolitionists  triumph  in  the  approach 
ing  effort,  they  would  make  the  general  government 
an  abolition  engine.  The  measure  of  abolition  in 
the  District  would  be  regarded  as  a  direct  and  em 
phatic  approval  of  the  course  of  the  abolitionists. 
The  fanatics  would  take  fresh  courage;  the  venal 
and  time-serving  would  flock  to  a  standard  sustained 
by  the  government;  and  the  cause  would  soon  be 
considered  "  the  cause  of  the  country."  The  pas 
sage  of  the  act  referred  to  would  put  the  seal  of 
national  sanction  on  the  calumnies  and  vituperation 
of  the  abolitionists  against  the  South;  and  would  hold 
the  citizens  of  that  section  of  the  country  up  to  the 
detestation  of  the  world,  as  brutal  and  fiendlikc 
monsters,  destitute  of  mercy  and  justice,  and  wholly 
sordid  and  savage  in  their  character  and  habits.  It 
would  do  more — it  would  extend  to  the  slaves  of 
the  South,  hopes  that  would  madden  them.  The 
government  itself  would  become  incendiary;  and 
the  slaves,  like  those  of  St.  Domingo,  under  a  like 
policy  of  the  French  government,  would  respond  to 
the  lure  held  out,  and  rise  in  a  mass  to  commence 
the  work  of  murder  and  desolation.  With  the  coun 
tenance  of  the  general  government,  it  is  impossible 
to  say  what  would  be  the  results  of  an  insurrection 
of  the  slaves  of  the  South.  The  dangers  are,  at  least, 


221 

sufficient  to  make  it  the  duty  of  the  South  to  guard 
against  them.  The  lives  of  the  citizens  of  the  South, 
and  all  that  is  dear  to  them,  depend  on  their  pre 
serving,  wholly  untouched,  their  jurisdiction  over 
the  slave  question.  The  power  that  violates  these 
rights,  is  their  worst  foe — and  as  such,  must  and  will 
be  met. 

The  passage  of  such  an  enactment  by  Congress 
would  he  a  virtual  infraction  of  the  compact  between 
the  general  government  and  the  States  of  Virginia 
and  Maryland.  It  cannot  be  supposed,  even  by  the 
most  insane  of  the  fanatics,  that  those  States  would 
have  ceded  their  territory  to  the  United  States,  if 
they  had  supposed  that  the  national  government  pos 
sessed  the  power  to  pass  an  act  of  abolition;  or  could 
ever  so  far  forget  its  own  character  as  to  assume 
such  power.  Would  they  have  exposed  their  own 
citizens  to  be  thus  robbed  of  their  property?  Would 
they — would  Washington  himself,  have  sanctioned 
a  measure  which  would  be  certain  to  endanger  the 
institutions  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  and  found  a 
city  of  refuge  for  the  reception  and  shelter  of  the  run 
away  slaves  from  those  States?  It  cannot  be,  for  one 
moment,  believed.  These  States  would  be  deeply 
injured  by  such  a  measure;  and  they,  as  well  as  the 
citizens  of  the  District,  would  regard  it  as  unauthor 
ized,  unjust,  and  oppressive.  The  general  govern 
ment  would  be  petitioned  by  the  whole  District,  to 
remove  the  seat  of  government,  and  recede  the 
District  to  the  States  from  which  it  was  received. 
Amid  such  opposition  and  contention,  surrounded 
by  an  indignant  and  injured  population,  the  govern 
ment  would  find  itself  placed,  by  its  injustice,  in  a 
situation  so  embarrassing,  that  in  all  probability  it 
would  be  constrained  to  remove  the  seat  of  its  de 
liberations  to  some  remote  and  more  tranquil  spot. 

The  government  of  the  United  States,  in  adopting 
19* 


222 

the  District  of  Columbia  as  the  site  of  the  capital, 
never  contemplated  an  interference  with  the  exist 
ing  right  of  the  inhabitants  to  their  slaves.  Had 
the  measures  now  urged  been  anticipated,  the  seat 
of  government  would  have  been  fixed  in  one  of  the 
non-slaveholding  States,  where  the  government 
would  not  have  been  disturbed  by  the  agitation  of 
this  ill-fated  question.  It  may  be  added,  also,  that 
the  slave-holders  in  the  administration,  of  which  the 
sainted  Washington — a  slave-holder — was  the  chief, 
would  never  have  sanctioned  the  measure,  had  they 
supposed  that  the  question  of  slavery  in  the  District 
was  open  to  Northern  interference. 

But  whatever  right  may  be  claimed,  for  Congress, 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  it  will  be  admitted  that 
it  has  no  greater  power  than  a  local  legislature  would 
have,  were  the  District  a  State,  and  Congress  its 
legislature.  No  republican,  no  lover  of  freedom, 
no  friend  of  justice,  will  deny  that  it  would  be 
improper  and  oppressive,  should  Congress  assume 
powers  which  such  a  legislature  would  not  possess. 
It  may,  therefore,  be  presumed,  that  Congress  will  be 
guided  by  the  rules  which  would  control  such  a 
legislature;  and  will  consult  the  interests,  but  more 
than  all,  the  will  of  the  community.  If  the  voters 
of  the  District  are  anxious  for  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
it  is  well.  If,  on  the  contrary,  they  are  opposed  to 
it — to  trample  on  their  will,  would  be  but  a  humi 
liating  specimen  of  American  liberty  and  justice. 
When  the  national  government  is  convinced  that  the 
will  of  the  community,  for  which  she  legislates, 
the  community  of  which  she  is  the  protector,  craves 
abolition,  then  let  its  inhabitants  be  robbed  of  their 
property,  despoiled  of  their  rights,  and  offered  up 
as  sacrifices  at  the  shrine  of  Northern  fanaticism. 

The  surrender  of  the  District  of  Columbia  would 
prove  one  of  the  most  afflicting  calamities  which 


2-23 

could  be  visited  upon  the  South.  It  would  become 
the  focus  of  the  abolitionists.  They  would  make  it 
their  head-quarters — the  laboratory  for  the  prepara 
tion  of  their  incendiary  weapons.  From  this  place, 
they  would  operate,  with  irresistible  effect,  upon  the 
surrounding  country;  and  in  a  short  time  completely 
pervade  the  south  with  their  insurrectionary  spirit. 
The  district,  too,  would  become  the  shelter  of  tens 
of  thousands  of  fugitive  slaves.  Arrangements  would 
be  made  to  receive  them,  and  forward  them  by  sea 
to  the  North.  Thus  the  District  would  become  the 
avenue,  by  which  the  slaves  of  the  south  would  pass 
on  to  freedom,  at  the  North. 

The  opposition  to  slavery  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia  has  existed  ever  since  its  cession  to  the 
United  States.  As  early  as  in  1805,  the  following 
resolution  was  brought  forward  in  the  House  of  Re 
presentatives. 

"  Resolved,  That  from  and  after  the  4th  of  July,  all 
blacks  and  people  of  colour  that  shall  be  born  with 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  whose  mothers  shall  be 
the  property  of  any  person  residing  within  said 

District  shall  be  free;  the  males  at  the  age  of , 

and  the  females  at  the  age  of ." 

This  resolution  was  rejected;  ayes  31,  noes  77. 

The  views  of  the  South  on  this  subject  are  dis 
tinctly  understood.  The  people  of  the  slaveholding 
States  deny  the  right  of  Congress  to  discuss  the  sub 
ject;  and  are  prepared  to  act,  as  one  man,  in  vigorous 
and  determined  opposition  to  any  measure,calculated 
to  undermine  their  rights  and  endanger  their  tran 
quillity  and  safety.  In  some  of  the  meetings  recently 
held  at  the  South  on  this  subject,  the  representatives 
of  the  South  in  Congress  were  requested,  to  vacate 
their  seats  the  moment  the  discussion  of  abolition 
commenced.  The  following  firm  and  eloquent  ap 
peal  from  the  South  to  the  North,  published  in  the 


224 

Richmond  Inquirer,  and  extensively  recopied,  will 
exhibit  the  feelings  and  determination  of  the  South 
on  this  subject. 

"  The  South,  therefore,  calls  upon  the  North  to 
put  forth  her  strength,  and  assist  us  in  putting  down 
the  emissaries  of  the  fanatics,  and  their  poisonous 
presses — and,  moreover,  to  keep  off  their  hands 
from  the  District  of  Columbia.  It  is  neutral  ground, 
with  which  neither  party  is  permitted  to  meddle. 
'  Pass  not  the  Iberus,  (as  the  Romans  warned  the 
Carthagenians.)  Touch  not  Saguntum.'  We  warn 
you  in  the  most  ingenuous  but  respectful  terms, 
touch'  not  the  District — disturb  not  the  order  of 
things,  which  has  been  established  there  since  the 
foundation  of  the  government — violate  none  of  the 
rights  of  property  which  belong  to  her  people,  ori 
ginally  the  citizens  of  two  slave  States,  and  protected 
by  their  laws.  Open  no  asylum  in  the  slave  region, 
and  on  the  borders  of  Virginia,  for  fugitive  slaves 
or  incendiary  emissaries.  The  federal  constitution 
never  could  have  intended  to  convey  any  jurisdic 
tion  to  Congress  over  this  delicate  and  agitating 
subject.  Beware,  then,  we  beseech  you !  You  are 
kindling  a  flame  which  must  consume  the  sacred 
temple  of  the  Union  itself.  The  South  has  taken 
her  stand  on  this  subject,  from  which  she  will  not 
depart.  She  will  not  permit  the  discussion  for  one 
moment  of  such  petitions.  She  will  consider  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  as 
forbidden  ground  in  debate.  Here  they  are  on  a 
footing  as  firm,  and  occupy  a  position  as  strong,  as 
they  do,  when  they  reject  interference,  in  an  open 
manner,  with  the  institution  of  slavery  within  their 
limits.  They  may  with  safety  point  to  the  constitu 
tion,  and  demand  whether  agitation  can  be  justified 
and  upheld  by  the  authority  of  Congress,  and  whe 
ther  it  does  not  impair  the  securities  to  slave  pro- 


225 

perty,  which  constitute  a  part  of  that  instrument. 
They  may  not  only  allege  the  evil  tendency  of  en 
tertaining  discussions  and  receiving  petitions  on  this 
subject,  but  they  may  take  higher  grounds,  and  say, 
that  should  Congress,  through  a  misguided  majority, 
acting  under  fanatical  impulses,  make  any  declara 
tion  affecting  the  rights  of  slave-owners  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  either  now  or  prospectively,  it 
would  be,  in  effect,  a  sentence  of  confiscation,  bound 
ed,  it  is  true,  as  to  place,  but  co-extensive  with  the 
limits  of  the  Union." 

It  cannot  be  denied,  and  need  not  be  concealed, 
that  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia  by  Congress,  would  be  the  signal  for  an  im 
mediate  dissolution  of  the  Union.  The  South  does 
not  shrink  from  an  avowal  of  her  determination  on 
this  point.  Her  course  will  be  adopted,  not  from 
resentment  or  rage,  but  from  a  calm  and  stern  con 
viction  of  necessity.  On  a  separation  of  the  Union, 
the  District  of  Columbia  would  probably  revert  to 
its  original  States;  and  the  very  act  of  abolition 
would  be  thus  abrogated.  Thus  the  fanatics  urge  a 
measure,  which,  though  it  may  dissolve  the  Union,, 
cannot  free  a  single  slave. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


Impossibility  of  effecting  abolition,  even  under 
the  sanction  of  the  slave-holders,  without  col 
lision  and  war  between  the  whites  and  blacks 
— •Amalgamation. 

WE  are  willing,  for  the  sake  of  investigating  the 
practicability  of  abolition,  to  suppose  impossibilities 
— to  imagine  that  the  Southern  states  are  willing  to 
witness,  with  apathy  and  indifference,  the  most  sa 
cred  provisions  of  the  Constitution  violated,  and 
their  domestic  institutions  and  domestic  rights 
trampled,  by  their  brethren,  in  the  dust.  We  are 
willing  to  suppose,  that  they  will  voluntarily  surren 
der  their  chartered  rights,  quietly  beggar  them 
selves  and  their  children,  and  tamely  give  them 
selves  up  to  the  management  of  the  Northern 
fanatics:  in  short  that  the  slave-holders  will  them 
selves  become  abolitionists.  Still  it  would  be  im 
possible  to  effect  abolition,  without  commotion 
and  bloodshed,  without  the  desolation  of  the 
entire  South,  and  the  extermination  of  one  or  the 
other  of  the  races  which  inhabit  it. 

Were  the  slaves  emancipated  they  would  claim 
political  and  social  equality.  This  is  already  claim 
ed  by  the  abolitionists;  and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  a  mass  of  ignorant  freed  men,  drunken  with 
the  excitement  of  unwonted  exemption  from  re 
straint,  would  be  more  moderate  in  their  views  or 


227 

desires,  than  their  pious  and  temperate  advocates 
in  the  North.  They  would  claim  political  and 
social  equality.  Would  it  be  denied?  If  so,  they 
would,  in  the  exultation  and  boastfulness  of  newly 
acquired  importance,  demand  it.  Pleased  with  a 
pretext  for  collision,  they  would  at  once  fall  upon 
the  whites,  and  wrest,  or  attempt  to  wrest,  the  poli 
tical  power  of  the  Southern  states  from  their  hands, 
at  the  point  of  the  sword.  Whatever  might  be  the 
final  result — the  immediate  consequences  would  be 
a  war  of  extermination. 

But  let  us  suppose  that  these  rights  were  conceded, 
and  that  the  slave  was  at  once  elevated  to  all  the  privi 
leges  and  powers  of  complete  citizenship — the  right 
to  vote,  to  hold  office,  to  make  laws,  organize 
armies,  &c.  &c.  Can  any  man,  in  the  maturity  ot 
reason,  uninfluenced  by  fanaticism,  and  disposed  to 
look  dispassionately  at  facts,  suppose  that  the  two 
races  could  exist  together,  in  tranquillity  under  such 
circumstances?  Can  it  be  conceived  that  social 
amalgamation  will,  or  can,  take  place?  The  reader 
has  no  doubt  noted  with  apprehension  and  regret 
the  prescriptive  and  bitter  prejudices  of  parties  as 
they  now  exist  in  this  country.  A  population, 
united  by  every  national  tie,  identical  in  language, 
character,  interests  and  feelings,  and  knit  together 
by  all  the  bonds  of  kindred — are  still  so  divided  by 
the  spirit  of  faction,  that  the  tranquillity  and  even 
the  existence  of  the  Union  have  been  at  times  en 
dangered.  If  such  excitements  distract  our  present 
population,  what  must  be  expected  when  the  South 
is  possessed  by  two  races,  differing  in  colour,  char 
acter  and  interests?  What  power  will  overthrow 
the  barrier  which  indissolubly  divides  them?  What 
magic  will  remove  the  distinction  wrhich  makes 
social  amalgamation  impossible?  Without  kindred 
connections,  without  social  or  sexual  intercourse, 


228 

with  every  thing  that  can  separate  and  embitter  the 
races — it  is  impossible  that  they  could  move  in  the 
same  sphere.  It  is  impossible  that  they  could  sit 
in  the  same  legislative  hall,  stand  in  the  same  mili 
tary  ranks,  occupy  the  same  civil  posts,  or  mingle 
in  the  same  political  meetings.  So  long  as  inter 
marriage  is  out  of  the  question,  so  long  must  these 
prejudices — the  necessary  result  of  social  separation 
— prevail.  On  one  side  will  be  the  whites,  on  the 
other  the  blacks;  on  one  side  the  intelligence  and 
refinement  of  the  country,  on  the  other  the  igno 
rance  and  barbarity;  on  one  side  the  wealth,  on  the 
other  the  poverty;  on  one  side  contempt  and  the 
feeling  produced  by  former  power,  on  the  other 
dark  brooding  feelings  of  malice  and  revenge.  The 
blacks,  too,  would  be  unwilling  to  work,  and  when 
pressed  by  want — would  wrench  the  means  of  ex 
istence  from  the  white  man,  and  in  case  of  resist 
ance,  resort  to  the  torch  and  the  knife.  The  lands 
would  remain  in  the  possession  of  the  whites,  and 
being  the  only  source  of  wealth,  the  impoverished 
negroes  would  insist  on  their  division.  A  thousand 
subjects  of  contention  would  arise;  and  when  the 
parties  are  indissolubly  divided,  separated  by  the 
hand  of  Nature,  marked,  on  the  front,  as  foes,  arid 
embittered  by  every  feeling  of  hostility  which  can 
enter  into  human  quarrels — the  arbitrament  must 
eventually  be  by  the  sword.* 

*  The  following  extract  from  De  Lamartine,  contains  im 
pressive  and  preernant  truths,  which  should  not  be  overlooked 
by  the  political  philosopher. 

"  The  more  I  have  travelled,  the  more  I  am  convinced  that 
races  of  men  form  the  great  secret  of  history  and  manners. 
Man  is  not  so  capable  of  education  as  philosophers  imagine. 
The  influence  of  governments  and  laws  has  less  power, 
radically,  than  is  supposed,  over  the  manners  and  instincts 
of  any  people,  while  the  primitive  constitution  and  the  blood 
of  the  race  have  always  their  influence,  and  manifest  them- 


£29 

The  abolitionist  will,  perhaps,  point  to  the  North 
ern  states,  as  furnishing  a  proof  of  the  safety  of 
abolition.  It  is  true,  that  the  slaves  have  been  eman 
cipated  in  the  North— it  is  also  true  that  they  have 
not  destroyed  the  lives  of  our  citizens.  But  the 
facts  prove  nothing  for  the  abolitionists.  Notwith 
standing  the  paucity  of  the  numbers  of  the  blacks, 
they  have  given  the  greatest  trouble  to  the  authori 
ties  of  the  Northern  cities.  Insignificant  in  power 
and  resources,  they  are  still  insolent  and  arrogant  to 
a  degree  which  renders  them  dangerous  to  the  com 
munity.  The  officers  of  justice  scarce  venture  to 
arrest  them;  and  it  is  a  task  of  great  and  mortal 
peril  to  take  a  fugitive  slave,  or  a  fugitive  from  jus 
tice,  from  among  them.  It  is  unnecessary  to  refer 
the  reader  to  the  columns  of  our  newspapers,  which 
give,  almost  weekly,  accounts  of  rescues  by  the 
blacks.  The  very  hall  of  the  Court  House  in 
Philadelphia,  was  made  the  scene  of  a  rescue  but  a 
short  time  since;  and  the  Judge  himself  saw,  through 
the  window,  the  officers  of  the  court  assailed  and 
the  prisoner  seized  by  a  negro  mob. 

While  referring  to  the  free  negroes  of  the  North, 
it  may  be  well  to  inquire  whether  the  social  and 


selves,  thousands  of  years  afterwards,  in  the  physical  forma 
tions  and  moral  habits  of  a  particular  family  or  tribe.  Hu 
man  nature  flows  in  rivers  anil  streams  into  the  vast  ocean  of 
humanity ;  but  its  waters  mingle  but  slowly,  sometimes 
never ;  and  it  emerges  again,  like  the  Rhone  from  the  Lake  of 
Geneva,  with  its  own  taste  and  colour.  Here  is  indeed  an 
abyss  of  thought  and  meditation,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
grand  secret  for  legislators.  As  long  as  they  keep  the  spirit 
of  the  race  in  view  they  succeed  ;  but  they  fail  when  they 
strive  against  this  natural  predisposition  :  nature  is  stronger 
than  they  are.  This  sentiment  is  not  that  of  the  philosophers 
of  the  present  time,  but  it  is  evident  to  the  traveller;  and 
there  is  more  philosophy  to  be  found  in  a  caravan  journey  of 
a  hundred  leagues,  than  in  ten  years  reading  and  meditation." 
20 


230 

moral  improvement,  promised  by  the  abolitionists 
as  the  result  of  emancipation,  has  been  there  attain 
ed.  The  negro  in  the  North  has  equal,  if  not  su 
perior  advantages  to  the  mass  of  poor  white  men. 
Our  public  institutions  afford  him  the  advantages  of 
an  education;  and  the  partiality  of  the  negroites 
furnishes  him  with  every  advantage  for  the  prose 
cution  of  business.  It  cannot,  however,  be  boasted, 
that  his  intellectual  character  has  been  materially 
elevated,  or  his  moral  nature  greatly  improved.  The 
free  blacks  are,  in  the  mass,  the  most  ignorant,  vo 
luptuous,  idle,  vicious,  impoverished,  and  degraded 
population  of  this  country.  They  are  seldom  seen 

Eursuing  regular  trades,   and  avoid   all   continuous 
ibour  with  characteristic   solicitude.     They   have 
sunk  lower  than  the  Southern  slaves,  and  constitute 
but  a  melancholy  proof  of  the  advantages  of  aboli 
tion. 

Some  time  since,  a  respectable  Quaker  of  Phila 
delphia,  who  was  called  upon  to  aid  the  abolition 
ists,  in  reply  to  the  request  of  the  solicitor,  asked 
him  what  he  would  think  of  a  settler  in  the  far 
West,  who  would  cut  the  wood  from  a  tract  of 
land  preparatory  to  cultivation.  The  abolitionist 
replied,  that  he  would  consider  it  a  natural  and  pru 
dent  course.  But  suppose,  urged  the  friend,  instead 
of  cultivating  what  he  had  cleared,  he  should  pro 
ceed  to  cut  off  another  tract? — I  would  regard  him 
as  a  most  imprudent  man — answered  the  other. 
And  should  he  still  proceed,  cutting  and  clearing  a 
third,  a  fourth,  a  fifth  tract,  without  stopping  to 
cultivate  any?  He  would  be  a  madman — responded 
the  unconscious  abolitionist.  What  then,  urged  the 
querist,  are  ye,  who,  having  freed  a  large  body  of 
the  blacks,  would  proceed  to  clear  new  and  bound 
less  tracts,  without  cultivating  those  already  cleared. 
Raise  the  negroes  of  the  North  to  the  moral  and 


231 

intellectual  elevation  necessary  to  make  them  good 
and  happy  men  and  valuable  citizens — and  I  will 
give  thee  my  money  to  char  a  neiv  tract. 

The  condition  of  the  free  negroes  of  the  North 
demonstrates  the  utter  impossibility  of  effecting  a 
social  or  political  amalgamation  of  the  races.  They 
are  free  at  the  North — possessed  of  all  the  rights  of 
the  whites — and  elevated,  in  many  states,  to  a  com 
plete  political  equality.  Do  they  exercise  those 
rights?  They  do  not,  and  dare  not.  Weak  as  they 
are,  the  jealousy  of  the  whites  renders  an  attempt 
on  their  part  to  exercise  their  political  rights,  dan 
gerous.  Were  they  more  numerous,  the  prejudice 
would  be  stronger.  The  late  difficulties  in  the 
North  between  the  whites  and  blacks,  prove  the 
strength  and  bitterness  of  this  feeling.  Those  dif 
ficulties  arose  from  the  presumption  of  the  blacks; 
and  were  quelled  by  their  flight  and  submission. 
Had  the  blacks  nearly  or  quite  equalled  the  whites 
in  numbers  and  strength,  it  is  probable  that  resist 
ance  would  have  been  made.  Such  a  conflict 
would  have  led  to  consequences  which  no  power 
under  heaven  could  have  checked.  The  contest 
would  have  widened  to  embrace  the  entire  popula 
tion,  and  deepened  into  a  civil  war.  That  war 
would  have  been  waged  with  all  the  horrors  of  a 
civil  contest  between  hostile  races;  and  would  have 
been  terminated  only  by  the  submission  or  extinc 
tion  of  one  of  the  parties.  Imagine  such  a  contest 
at  the  South,  and  what  mind  can  regard  the  results 
without  horror. 

A  review  of  the  history  and  condition  of  the  free 
blacks  of  the  North,  cannot  but  result  in  the  con 
viction,  that  they  are  incapable  of  rising  to  a  level 
with  the  whites;  and  that,  if  they  could,  their  eleva 
tion  would  only  precipitate  a  conflict  between  them, 


23-2 

and  the  whites,  and  render  that  conflict  mare  dubi 
ous  and  destructive. 

It  may  be  justly  doubted,  whether,  under  the 
most  favourable  auspices,  the  negro  character  i:- 
adequate  to  the  task  of  self  elevation  and  support, 
whether  he  can,  when  left  to  himself,  win  or  retain 
the  advantages  of  civilization  and  self  control;  and 
it  is  certain  that,  where  the  circumstances  are  ad 
verse,  he  must  sink,  when  the  supporting  hand  of 
the  white  man  is  withdrawn,  into  barbarity  anc1 
wretchedness.  We  know  that  many  intelligent 
men  profess  to  believe,  that  the  intellectual  and 
moral  faculties  of  the  negro  are  equal  to  those  of 
any  other  race.  We  have  no  prejudice  against  the 
coloured  man  to  gratify;  but  we  cannot  but  doubt 
the  truth  of  the  position.  We  have  no  proof  of 
their  capacity  for  self-sustained  civilization.  Since 
the  sun  first  shone  upon  Africa,  that  vast  continent, 
has,  so  far  as  the  negro  race  is  concerned,  remained 
in  unbroken  gloom.  Of  the  flood  of  moral  radiance 
which  has  irradiated  the  whole  globe,  not  a  strag 
gling  ray  has  been  able  to  pierce  the  dense  gloom 
which  overshadows  Africa.  In  the  West  Indies, 
we  find  the  same  insusceptibility  to  mental  refine 
ment.  Kven  in  Hayti,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter, 
the  negro  has  been  unable  to  raise  his  nature  above 
its  ordinary  level.  In  this  country,  the  coloured 
man  has  greater  advantages,  and  has  attained  a 
somewhat  greater  degree  of  civilization:  but  who. 
that  contemplates  the  race,  as  a  mass,  is  prepared  to 
say  that  they  are  capable  of  self  government,  or  fit 
to  be  merged,  politically,  in  the  free  white  popula 
tion  of  the  country.  Personal  observation  must 
convince  every  candid  man,  that  the  negro  is  con 
stitutionally  indolent,  voluptuous,  and  prone  to 
vice;  that  his  mind  is  heavy,  dull,  and  unambitious; 
and  that  the  doom  which  has  made  the  African  in 


233 

all  ages  and  countries,  a  slave — is  the  natural  conse 
quence  of  the  inferiority  of  his  character.* 

*  The  foil  owing  extract  is  from  the  Courier  and  Enquirer,  of 
New  York.  The  view  here  taken  of  the  subject  is  equally 
forcible  and  correct. 

"  We  will  suppose,  what  is  scarcely  possible,  that  the 
blacks  should  finally  succeed,  and  become  masters  where  be 
fore  they  were  slaves.  We  would  ask  does  there  now  exist, 
or  did  there  ever  exist  an  independent  community  of  blacks 
in  any  age  or  clime,  that  affords  one  single  ennobling  reflec 
tion  to  the  friends  of  the  human  race  1  Are  they  not  in  St. 
Domingo,  and  every  where  else,  where  they  exist  in  a  state 
of  freedom,  without  mora's,  without  industry,  and  divested 
of  every  characteristic  of  civilized  nations!  They  have  no 
ideas  of  freedom  except  exemption  from  labour,  and  their 
conception  of  political  rights  is  limited  to  abject  despotism 
on  the  one  hand,  unrestrained  licentiousness  on  the  other.  In 
their  native  land  they  are  the  slaves  of  their  kings,  who 
exercise  over  them  unlimited  discretion,  and  in  St.  Domingo, 
where  their  minds,  and  their  habits  were  in  some  degree 
modified  by  an  association  with  the  whites,  the  only  use  they 
have  made  of  their  freedom  is  to  indulge  in  a  latitude  of 
idleness  and  debauchery  which  has  entailed  upon  them  a 
system  of  coercion  and  punishment  from  their  rulers,  far 
more  severe  than  they  ever  suffered  from  their  old  masters. 

"To  the  task  of  self  government  they  have  been  found 
totally  inadequate,  at  all  times,  and  every  where.  As  inde 
pendent  communities  they  are  political  bondmen  ;  as  free  in 
dividuals,  they  nine  times  in  ten,  become  either  a  burthen  or 
a  pest  to  society.  The  cities  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
the  great  refuges  of  the  free  coloured  population,  afford  such 
melancholy  examples  of  the  truth  of  this  latter  assertion,  that 
we  shall  not  waste  words  to  establish  its  correctness.  No 
one  can  walk  the  streets  by  day,  and  more  especially  by 
night,  without  having  his  feelings  outraged  by  continued  ex 
amples  of  such  disgusting  obscenity,  such  filthy,  nauseating, 
beastly  corruption,  as  it  is  reserved  to  the  free  negroes  alone 
to  exhibit  among  us.  They  pay  no  more  respect  to  the  laws 
of  the  land,  than  to  the  decencies  of  society.  A  white  man 
offending  against  the  laws,  can  be  arrested  and  made  answer 
able  for  his  crime,  without  raising  a  mob  to  effect  his  libera 
tion  and  arrest  the  course  of  justice.  But  let  a  Southern 
planter  attempt  to  reclaim  his  runaway  slave,  and  the  whole 
20* 


234 

Mr.  Walsh  says,  in  his  Appeal:  "  I  know  of  but 
one  mode  of  correcting  these  feelings,  and  prevent 
ing  altercation,  hostility,  and  civil  war;  of  making 
the  experiment  of  general  instruction  and  emanci 
pation,  with  any  degree  of  safety.  We  must  assure 
the  blacks  of  a  perfect  equality  in  all  points  with 
ourselves;  we  must  labour  to  incorporate  them 
with  us,  so  that  we  shall  become  of  one  flesh  and 
blood,  and  of  one  political  family  /"—Mr.  Walsh 
is  right;  and  events  which  have  transpired  since  the 
publication  of  his  work,  prove  that  this  "amalga 
mation,"  is  recognized  as  the  only  means  of  attain 
ing  complete  social  equality,  and  is  therefore  re 
garded,  by  the  abolitionists,  with  favour.  Their 
feelings  and  views,  on  this  point,  were  originally 
expressed  with  more  frankness;  but  the  indignation 
with  which,  the  plan  was  received  by  the  people, 
has  induced  them  to  defer  its  public  avowal  and  ad 
vocacy.  It  must,  however  j  be  admitted  by  every 
reasoning  man 'that  sexual  amalgamation  is  the  only 
means,  under  heaven, .by  which  the  races  can  be 
"mingled,, like  kindred  drops,  in  one."  This  is  the 
only  plan  by  which  the  vagaries  of  the  abolition 
ists  can,  by  the  most  remote  possibility,  be  realized. 
It  is  the  sole  recourse,  in  case  of 'emancipation,  by 
which  the  colliding  races  can  be  harmonized,  their 
prejudices. removed,  and  the  divided  and  conflicting 
population  welded  into  one  mass. 

But  is  such  an  amalgamation  possible?    The  fana- 


mass  of  black  population  is  in  arms  to  oppose  him.  He  does 
it  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  and  his  appeal  to  the  laws  of  his 
country  to  recover  his  property,  endangers  his  very  existence. 
Even  if  he  should  escape  this  danger,  he  incurs  the  scoffs 
and  opprobium  of  the  offscourings  of  society,  and  too  often 
must  submit  his  claim  to  the  decision  of  a  magistrate  whose 
conscience  will,  not  permit  him  to  enforce  the  laws  of  his 
country. 


235 

tics,  who  pause  not  at  the  prospect  of  insurrection 
and  slaughter,  may,  perhaps,  regard  without  nausea, 
this  process  of  harmonization.  They  may  have 
sufficiently  schooled  and  perverted  their  natural 
feelings,  to  endure  a  prospect  at  which  ordinary 
human  nature  sickens.  But  can  they,  with  all  their 
abstractions,  persuade-  the  people  of  this  country 
that  white  is  black?  Can^they  induce  them  to  be 
lieve  that  Cupid  is  a  young  negro;  or  to  regard, 
without  a  revolt  of  their  feelings,  the  combination 
of  charms  which  grace  the  sooty  and  fragrant 
favourites  of  the  fanatics?  But  this  subject  can 
scarce  be  even  referred  to,  without  a  breach  of  pro 
priety,  without  feelings  of  nauseated  disgust  and 
excited  indignation.  The  man  who*  can  insult  the 
fair  and  accomplished  ladies  of  this  country,  by  con 
ceiving,  much  less  avowing,  a  belief  of  the  possi 
bility  of  such  deep,  unnatural  and  damning  degrada 
tion—deserves,  the  most  emphatic  expression  of 
the  abhorrence  of  society.  Yet  strange  to  say,  the 
North  does  contain  men,  who  openly  vindicate  the 
revolting  and  guilty  suggestion — and  who- yet  walk 
our  streets  "  untarred  and  unfeathored." 

Can  these  philanthropists  blind  themselves  to  the 
real  character  of  such  schemes?  Can  they  not  see 
beneath  the  mask  of  benevolence,  the  hot  and  hide 
ous  features  of  a  monstrous  and  unnatural  lust?  Can 
they  not  foresee^  in  the  results  of  the  unholy  union, 
the  utter  annihilation;  of  all  sense  of  virtue?  Are 
they  not  aware  that  it  would  plunge  the  race  into  a 
pit  of  fathomless-  and  irretrievable  degradation  and 
perdition?  They  are  not,  they  cannot  be- ignorant, 
that  such  guilt  would  bring  down  upon  us  the  curse 
of  God  and  man;  that  we  would  be  regarded,  with 
loathing  and  contempt,  by  all  created  beings;  and 
sink  into  a  depth  of  crime  and  infamy,  of  feeble- 
ness  and  horror,  fpr  which  fancy  has  no  picture 


236 

and  history  no  parallel.  Commerce  would  fly  our 
guilty  shores;  crime  would  stalk  through  our  street* 
at  mid-day;  genius  and  virtue,  and  peace  would  be, 
unknown  among  us;  and  we  would  become,  to 
ourselves,  a  mass  of  rottenness  and  wretchedness — 
to  the  world,  a  hissing  and  a  reproach. 

Mr.  Walsh,  referring  to  this  subject,  in  the  work 
already  quoted,  says:  "there  must  remain,  in  any 
case,  a  broad  line  of  demarcation,  not  viewed  as  an 
inconvenience  by  them,  but  indispensable  for  our 
feelings  and  interests.  Nature  and  accident  com 
bine  to  make  it  impossible;  their  colour  is  a  per 
petual  memento  of  their  servile  origin,  and  a  double 
disgust  is  thus  created.  We  will  not,  must  not, 
expose  ourselves  to  lose  our  identity  as  it  were;  to 
be  stained  in  our  blood,  and  disparaged,  in  our  rela 
tion  of  being,  towards  the  stock  of  our  forefathers 
in  Europe.  This  may  be  called  prejudice:  but  i; 
is  one  which  no  reasoning  can  overcome,  and  which 
we  cannot  wish  to  see  extinguished.  We  are  sure 
that  it  would  exist  in  an  equal  degree  with  any  na 
tion  of  Europe,  who  might  be  circumstanced  like 
ourselves;  we  do  not  find  it  so  gross  in  itself,  or  so 
hurtful  and  unjust  in  its  operation,  as  those  of  an 
analogous  cast  which  prevail  in  England.  '  Men  of 
true  speculation,'  says  Mr.  Burke,  *  exploring  gene 
ral  prejudices,  employ  their  sagacity  to  discover 
the  latent  wisdom  which  inheres  in  them.  If  they 
find  what  they  seek,  they  think  it  more  wise  to 
continue  the  prejudice,  with  the  reason  involved, 
than  to  cast  away  the  coat  of  prejudice,  and  leave 
nothing  but  the  naked  reason.7  ' 


CHAPTER  XX. 


Consequences  of  Abolition ,  if  effected  with  the 
assent  of  the  Slave-holder. 

IT  will  be  said  by  the  Southern  reader,  that  it  is 
unnecessary  and  idle  to  inquire  into  the  conse 
quences  of  an  event  which  is  impossible.  We  ad 
mit  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  that  the  citizens  of 
the  South  can  ever  consent  to  stake  their  lives  upon 
the  perilous  and  absurd  scheme  of  the  abolitionists: 
but  it  may  be  well,  by  a  brief  and  cursory  view  of 
the  results  which  would  inevitably  flow  from  such 
a  measure,  to  open  the  eyes  of  honest  abolitionists, 
if  such  there  be,  to  the  real  character  of  the  designs 
which  they  have  been  induced  to  sustain. 

The  consequences  of  abolition  would  be  •wide- 
sweeping  and  general;  the}7  would  be  felt  and  de 
plored  by  the  North  as  well  as  the  South — by  the 
negro  as  well  as  the  white  man. 

To  the  North  its  influence  would  be  truly  disas 
trous.  The  instant  the  act  ©f  emancipation  went 
into  effect,  a  torrent  of  black  emigration  would  set 
from  the  South  t&  the  North.  The  blow  given  to 
the  South,  and  the  convulsion  which  would  pervade 
its  whole  extent,  would  derange  all  the  pursuits  of 
industry,  and  drive  the  negroes  to  the  North  for 
subsistence.  They  would  seek  the  free  States  also 
as  the  land  of  promise,  and  the  North  would  soon 
be  blackened  by  the  ingress  of  Southern  slaves.  One 
of  the  first  results  of  this  emigration  would  be  a 


238 

depreciation  in  the  price  of  labour.  The  added 
number  of  labourers  would,  of  itself,  occasion  this 
fall  of  prices;  but  the  limited  wants  ot  the  negro, 
which  enable  him  to  under-work  the  white  labourer, 
would  tend  still  further  to  produce  this  result.  The 
honest  white  poor  of  the  North  would,  therefore,  be 
either  thrown  out  of  employment  entirely  by  the 
blacks,  or  forced  to  descend  to  an  equality  with  the 
negro,  and  work  at  his  reduced  prices.  It  behooves 
the  working  men  of  the  North  to  look  into  this  sub 
ject,  and  take  efficient  measures  to  ward  off  the  fatal 
blow  aimed  at  their  rights  and  interests  by  the 
abolitionists.  Let  the  mad  scheme  of  abolition  be 
carried  into  effect,  and  the  honest  poor  of  the  North 
will  be  degraded  into  a  state  worse  than  that  from 
which  the  slaves  will  be  freed.  The  chains  will  be 
taken  from  the  blacks  of  the  South,  and  fastened 
upon  the  poor  whites  of  the  North.  Degradation, 
suffering,  and  oppression  will  be  their  lot,  thence 
forth,  for  ever;  and  for  the  wretchedness  thus  entailed 
upon  them,  they  may  thank  the  benevolence  of  the 
fanatics. 

The  North  already  deplores,  not  without  reason, 
the  number  of  the  free  coloured  population  within  her 
borders.  The  immense  increase  of  that  population, 
by  abolition,  would  render  the  burthen  thus  inflicted 
upon  the  community,  intolerable.  With  the  increase 
of  their  strength,  they  would  become  more  insolent 
and  overbearing.  Their  idleness  would  render  them 
dependent  upon  the  industrious  whites;  their  vices 
would  urge  them  into  crime;  and  our  community 
would  be  filled  with  confusion,  violence,  and  out 
rage.  Our  jails  and  alms-houses  would  overflow  with 
the  lazaroni  thus  crowded  upon  us;  and  the  North 
would  be  afflicted  with  all  the  evils  of  a  worthless 
coloured  population — evils  hitherto  confined  to  the 


239 

South,  but  which  abolition  would  spread  over  the 
whole  country. 

It  cannot  be  supposed  that  this  population,  igno 
rant,  insolent,  and  violent,  would  abstain  from  the 
exercisje  of  the  political  rights  extended  to  them  by 
most  of  the  Northern  States.  They  would  enter  the 
arena  with  their  united  strength;  and  the  whites 
would  either  be  driven  from  the  polls,  or  compelled 
to  maintain  their  rights,  by  force.  Bitter  party  con 
flicts  between  the  blacks  and  whites,  could  not  be 
prosecuted  without  violence;  and  among  the  other 
direful  triumphs  of  abolition,  our  peaceful  streets 
would  be  filled  with  the  din  of  mortal  conflict,  and 
our  cities  exposed  to  the  lust  and  rage  of  infuriated 
and  savage  negro  mobs. 

Let  the  North  pause  ere  she  consent  to  see  her 
peace  thus  invaded,  her  safety  endangered,  and  her 
happiness  for  ever  destroyed.  We  are  now  an  united, 
tranquil,  and  happy  people;  and  every  consideration 
of  prudence  and  duty  requires  that  we  should  not 
suffer,  much  less  seek,  the  triumph  of  a  measure 
which  must  involve  us  in  the  evils  which  it  would 
inflict  upon  the  South,  and  render  the  free  and  happy 
States  of  the  North  the  scene  of  an  eternal  contest 
between  the  original  white  population  and  a  black 
emigration,  ignorant,  savage,  vicious,  and  idle.  The 
hour  that  sees  the  slaves  of  the  South  emancipated, 
witnesses  the  prosperity  and  glory  of  the  North 
clouded  for  ever. 

If  the  scheme  of  emancipation  should  prove,  as 
we  are  assured  it  must,  ruinous  in  its  influence  on 
the  industry  and  agriculture  of  the  South,  the  blow 
would  be  still  more  severely  felt  at  the  North.  If 
emancipation  is  attended  here  as  in  St.  Domingo, 
with  the  destruction  of  the  plantations,  and  the  con 
sequent  failure  to  supply  the  usual  exports,  what 
will  become  of  Northern  commerce  or  manufactures? 


ele 

Where  will  our  vessels  find  employment?  Whence 
Will  our  manufactories  procure  their  cotton,  or  where 
find  their  market?  Without  exports — and  the  mass 
of  ours  is  raised  at  the  South — the  country  must  sink 
into  irremediable  penury.  The  blow  will  not  be  for 
a  month,  or  a  year,  but  for  ever.  It  will  fall  upon 
the  land,  like  palsy  upon  the  limbs  of  age — nothing 
will  turn  its  feebleness  into  strength,  or  restore  the 
living  principle  which  before  animated  it. 

Of  the  consequences  of  abolition  to  the  South  it  is 
difficult  to  speak  in  terms  of  moderation.  The  ex 
tent  of  those  consequences  cannot  now  be  conceived: 
but  we  know  enough,  to  give  to  the  mad  scheme  oi 
emancipation  an  aspect  of  unequalled  horror. 

One  of  the  first  consequences  of  emancipation 
would  be  the  loss  of  the  negro's  labour.  Indolent 
from  constitution,  the  moment  he  is  allowed  the 
privilege  of  abstaining  from  toil,  no  persuasion,  no 
inducement,  not  even  the  stern  voice  of  necessity, 
can  bring  him  back  to  it.  In  St.  Domingo,  the  blacks 
are  forced  to  toil  by  the  most  oppressive  enact 
ments,  and  labour  literally  at  the  point  of  the  bayo 
net.  The  negro  is  the  same  every  where,  and,  re 
leased  from  legal  obligation,  he  would  abandon  all 
toil,  and  trust  to  chance  for  the  necessaries  of  life. 
The  plantations  of  the  South  would  become,  in  con 
sequence,  unproductive.  The  wilderness  would  re 
claim  them;  and  the  rich  fields  which  now  teem 
with  fertility  would,  like  the  plantations  of  Hayti, 
revert  to  the  forest.  The  pursuit  of  agriculture  thus 
abandoned,  the  South  must  sink  into  poverty.  The 
rich  exports,  now  sent  from  that  section  of  the  Union, 
would  no  longer  go  forth,  to  bring  back  a  return  of 
wealth  and  comfort  to  the  enterprizing  planter.  Pe 
nury  and  wretchedness  would  fall  upon  and  blight 
the  land.  Its  spirit  would  be  broken  down;  indus 
try  and  enterprise  would  be  discouraged;  capitalists 


241 

would  emigrate  with  their  wealth;  and,  with  the 

feneral  decay,  even  the  proud  political  spirit  of  the 
outh  would  be  bowed  to  the  dust.  Abolition,  if 
unloosed  upon  the  South,  will  pass  over  it  like  a 
curse.  He  who  visits  it  after  its  pestilential  influ 
ence  has  been  fully  exerted,  will  find  that  prosperous 
portion  of  our  happy  country — a  desert — still,  lone, 
and  melancholy. 

The  following  remarks,  upon  the  consequences 
of  emancipation,  were  made  by  Judge  Tucker,  in 
1803,  long  before  the  country  was  afflicted  with  an 
organized  band  of  conspiring  abolitionists.  "  The 
acrimony  of  the  censures  cast  upon  us  must  abate, 
at  least  in  the  breasts  of  the  candid,  when  they  con 
sider  the  difficulties  attendant  upon  any  plan  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  in  a  country  where  so  large  a 
proportion  of  the  inhabitants  are  slaves;  and  where 
a  still  larger  proportion  of  the  cultivators  of  the 
earth  are  of  that  description.  The  extirpation  of 
slavery  from  the  United  States  is  a  task  equally 
momentous  and  arduous.  Human  prudence  forbids 
that  we  should  precipitately  engage  in  a  work  of 
such  hazard,  as  a  general  and  simultaneous  emanci 
pation.  The  mind  of  man  is,  in  some  measure,  to 
be  formed  for  his  future  condition.  The  early  im 
pressions  of  obedience  and  submission,  which  slaves 
have  received  among  us,  and  the  no  less  habitual 
arrogance  and  assumption  of  superiority  among  the 
whites,  contribute  equally  to  unfit  the  former  for 
freedom,  and  the  latter  for  equality.  To  expel  them 
all  at  once  from  the  United  States,  would,  in  fact, 
be  to  devote  them  only  to  a  lingering  death,  by 
famine,  by  disease,  and  other  accumulated  miseries. 
To  retain  them  among  us,  would  be  nothing  more 
than  to  throw  so  many  of  the  human  race  upon  the 
earth  without  the  means  of  subsistence;  they  would 
soon  become  idle,  profligate,  and  miserable.  They 
21 


would  be  unfit  for  their  new  condition,  and  unwil 
ling  to  return  to  their  former  laborious  course." 

That  it  would  be  impossible  to  induce  the  eman 
cipated  negroes  to  work,  and  that  the  consequence 
would  be  the  impoverishment  and  ruin  of  the  en 
tire  South,  we  have  the  most  conclusive  evidence- 
Wherever  the  experiment  has  been  tried  it  has  failed 
We  will  prove,  in  the  next  chapter,  by  a  brief  re 
view  of  the  history  of  St.  Domingo,  that  emancipa 
tion  has  been  there  attended  with  every  disastei 
which  the  most  timid  could  have  feared.  The  in 
dustry  of  that  island  has  been  annihilated.  Brougharr 
in  his  Colonial  Policy,  says,  "The  free  negroes  ir. 
the  West  Indies  are,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
chiefly  in  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  settlements, 
equally  averse  to  all  sorts  of  labour  which  do  not 
contribute  to  their  immediate  and  most  urgent  wants. 
Improvident  and  careless  of  the  future,  they  are  not 
actuated  by  that  principle  which  inclines  more  civil 
ized  men  to  equalize  their  exertions  at  all  times,  and 
to  work  after  the  necessaries  of  the  day  have  been 
procured,  in  order  to  make  up  for  the  possible  defi 
ciencies  of  to-morrow;  nor  has  their  intercourse  with 
the  whites  taught  them  to  consider  any  gratification 
as  worth  obtaining,  which  cannot  be  produced  by 
slight  exertion  of  desultory  and  capricious  indus 
try."  It  appears  that  the  same  aversion  to  labour 
prevails  in  all  the  colonies.  The  author  just  quoted, 
says,  that  "  M.  Malouet,  who  bore  a  special  com 
mission  from  the  general  government  to  examine  the 
character  and  habits  of  the  Maroons  in  Dutch  Guiana, 
and  to  determine  whether  or  not  they  were  adapted 
to  become  hired  labourers,  informs  us  that  they  will 
only  work  one  day  in  the  week,  which  they  find 
abundantly  sufficient,  in  the  fertile  soil  and  genial 
climate  of  the  new  world,  to  supply  all  the  wants 
they  have  yet  learnt  to  feel.  The  rest  of  their  time 


243 

is  spent  in  absolute  indolence  and  sloth.  (I*e  reposj 
says  he,  '  et  Poisivete  sont  devenus  dans  leur  &at 
social  leur  unique  passion?'  He  gives  the  very 
same  description  of  the  negroes  in  the  French  colo 
nies,  although  many  of  them  possessed  lands  and 
slaves.  The  spectacle,  he  tells  us,  was  never  yet 
exhibited  of  a  free  negro  supporting  his  family  by 
the  culture  of  his  little  property.  All  other  authors 
agree  in  giving  the  same  description  of  free  negroes 
in  the  British,  French,  and  Dutch  colonies,  by  what 
ever  denomination  they  may  be  distinguished,  whe 
ther  Maroons,  Caraibes,  free  blacks,  or  fugitive 
slaves.  The  Abbe  Raynald,  with  all  his  ridiculous 
fondness  for  savages,  cannot,  in  the  present  instance, 
so  far  twist  the  facts,  according  to  his  fancies  and 
feelings,  as  to  give  a  favourable  portrait  of  this  de 
graded  race."  "The  British  colony  at  Sierra  Leone, 
and  our  own  at  Liberia,  both  demonstrate  the  in 
vincible  aversion  of  the  negro  to  regular  labour. 
Indeed,  wherever  the  experiment  has  been  tried,  it 
has  produced  the  same  result;  and  those  who  advo 
cate  the  liberation  of  the  slave  must  calculate  upon 
the  consequences  to  them  and  to  the  country,  of  a 
population  of  two  millions  and  a  quarter  remaining 
in  a  state  of  complete  sloth  and  idleness. 

To  add  to  the  burthens  and  afflictions  of  the 
South,  the  emancipated  population  would  acquire, 
with  fearful  rapidity,  those  vices  from  which  their 
present  restraint  protects  them.  Drunkenness  would 
sweep  over  the  South  like  a  destroying  spirit;  and 
every  vice  and  every  crime  would  follow  in  its 
track.  Even  if  such  a  population  could  be  held  in 
subjection  to  the  laws,  how  wasting  and  destructive 
a  burthen  would  it  prove? 

But  the  most  fearful  consequence  to  be  anticipated 
from  emancipation,  is  the  violence  and  insurrections 
of  the  manumitted  slaves.  That  this  violence  would 


244 

be  inevitable,  cannot,  we  think,  be  doubted.  Many 
causes  would  combine  to  render  the  vast  population, 
thus  suddenly  freed  from  wonted  restraint,  fierce, 
unquiet,  and  insurrectionary.  Idleness  itself  would 
prompt  them  to  a  war  upon  the  whites,  if  for  the 
mere  enjoyment  of  excitement.  The  want  that  suc 
ceeds  idleness  would  urge  still  more  fiercely  to  hos 
tilities.  The  vices  that  would  flow  in  upon  them, 
drunkenness,  sensuality,  and  impatience  of  restraint, 
would  also  act  as  spurs  to  goad  them  on  to  deeds  of 
violence  and  blood.  Their  conscious  degradation 
could  not  fail  to  add  to  their  discontent.  To  gain 
the  mere  means  of  subsistence,  the  blacks  would  be 
forced  to  work  for  their  former  masters;  these  mas 
ters,  freed  from  the  sense  of  duty  and  dependence 
which  now  softens  their  hearts  towards  the  slave, 
would  probably  exhibit  a  degree  of  rapacity  and 
cruelty  now  unknown.  All  these  causes,  with 
many  others,  would  conspire  to  render  the  South 
the  scene  of  constant  violence  and  bloodshed.  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  instead  of  multiplied  and 
continued  ebullitions  of  the  dark  passions  of  the 
negro,  they  would,  in  the  confidence  of  their  num 
bers,  essay  to  make  a  general  blow,  and  take  posses 
sion  of  the  whole  Southern  portion  of  our  country. 
Many  captivating  inducements  would  urge  them  to 
this  course.  The  gratification  of  their  ungoverned 
passions,  their  lust,  their  love  of  blood,  and  their 
hatred  of  the  whites,  would  combine  with  the  de 
sire  to  secure  the  wealth  of  the  citizens,  possess  their 
cities,  seize  their  plantations,  and  prosecute  those 
pursuits  which,  in  the  hands  of  the  whites,  have  been 
attended  with  such  great  success  and  profit. 

The  following  extract  from  a  speech  by  the  cele 
brated  Mr.  Canning,  beautifully  illustrates  the  dan 
gers  ot  negro  emancipation.  "  In  dealing  with  a 
negro,  we  must  remember  that  we  are  dealing  with 


245 

a  being  possessing  the  form  and  strength  of  a  man, 
but  the  intellect  only  of  a  child.  To  turn  him  loose 
in  the  manhood  of  his  physical  passions,  but  in  the 
infancy  of  his  uninstructed  reason,  would  be  to  raise 
up  a  creature  resembling  the  splendid  fiction  of  a 
recent  romance,  the  hero  of  which  constructs  a 
human  form  with  all  the  physical  capabilities  of  man, 
and  with  the  thews  and  sinews  of  a  giant;  but,  being 
unab!e  to  impart  to  the  work  of  his  hands  a  percep 
tion  of  right  and  wrong,  he  finds,  too  late,  that  he  has 
only  created  a  more  than  mortal  power  of  doing 
mischief,  and  himself  recoils  from  the  monster  which 
he  has  made." 

Professor  Dew  thus  speaks  of  the  consequence  of 
emancipation.  "The  great  evil  of  these  schemes 
of  emancipation,  remains  yet  to  be  told.  They 
are  admirably  calculated  to  excite  plots,  murders, 
and  insurrections;  whether  gradual  or  rapid  in  their 
operations,  this  is  the  inevitable  tendency.  In  the 
former  case,  you  disturb  the  quiet  and  contentment  of 
the  slave  who  is  left  unemancipated,and  he  becomes 
the  midnight  murderer  to  gain  that  fatal  freedom 
whose  blessings  he  does  not  comprehend.  In  the 
latter  case,  want  and  invidious  distinction  will 
prompt  to  revenge.  Two  totally  different  races,  as 
we  have  before  seen,  cannot  easily  harmonize  to 
gether;  and  although  we  have  no  idea  that  any  or 
ganized  plan  of  insurrection  or  rebellion  can  ever 
secure  for  the  black  the  superiority,  even  when  free,, 
yet  his  idleness  will  produce  want  and  worthless- 
ness,  and  his  very  worthlessness  and  degradation 
will  stimulate  him  to  deeds  of  rapine  and  vengeance; 
he  will  oftener  engage  in  plots  and  massacres,  and 
thereby  draw  down  on  his  devoted  head  the  ven 
geance  of  the  provoked  whites.  But  one  limited 
massacre  is  recorded  in  Virginia  history;  let  her 
liberate  her  slaves,  and  every  year  you  would  hear 
21* 


246 

of  insurrections  and  plots,  and  every  day  would 
perhaps  record  a  murder;  the  melancholy  tale  of 
Southampton  wo-uld  not  alone  blacken  the  page  of 
our  history,  and  make  the  tender  mother  shed  the 
tear  of  horror  over  her  babe  as  she  clasped  it  to  her 
bosom;  others  of  a  deeper  dye  would  thicken  upon 
us;  those  regions  where  the  brightness  of  polished 
life  has  dawned  and  brightened  into  full  day,  would 
relapse  into  darkness  thick  and  full  of  horrors." 

The  consequences  of  servile  insurrection  in  the 
South  cannot  be  adequately  portrayed.  From  the 
revolt  of  the  gladiators  under  Spartacus,  70  B.  C., 
to  the  insurrection  in  Barbadoes  in  1816,  the  same 
scene  of  horror  has  attended  every  servile  contest. 
The  madness  which  a  sudden  freedom  from  restraint 
begets — the  overpowering  burst  of  long-buried  pas 
sion — the  wild  frenzy  of  revenge,  and  the  savage 
lust  for  blood,  all  unite  to  give  to  the  warfare  of 
liberated  slaves,  traits  of  cruelty  and  crime  which 
nothing  earthly  can  equal.  Fiends  let  loose  upon 
the  earth  could  not  wage  a  more  desolating  war 
upon  its  inhabitants.  The  torrent  of  blood  once 
let  loose,  it  sweeps  the  old  and  young,  the  innocent 
and  guilty,  the  hoary  sire  and  the  blooming  maid, 
in  one  undistinguished  mass  before  it.  Should  such 
a  contest  take  place  in  this  country,  if  the  negro  tri 
umphed,  the  South  would  be  left  a  blackened  and 
solitary  waste.  It  is  not,  however,  probable  that 
brutal  force  would  succeed,  in  a  contest  against  skill, 
prudence,  and  science.  The  blacks  would  probably 
be  subdued,  and,  as  their  cruelties  would  excite 
against  them  the  bitterest  hatred,  perhaps  extermi 
nated.  But,  before  this  result  could  take  place,  the 
blacks  would,  in  all  human  probability,  obtain  pos 
session  of  extensive  portions  of  the  country,  and 
extend  their  ravages  to  the  desolation  of  large  tracts 
of  territory,  and  the  murder  of  tens  or  hundreds  of 


247 

thousands  of  innocent  victims.     There  can  be  no 
exaggeration   of  the   horrors   which   would   ensue 
wherever  they  attained  power.     The  most  savage 
of   the    Indian    tribes — the   very    cannibals — excel 
them  in  mildness  and  humanity.     Their  career  is 
one  of  unmixed  desolation.  They  would  burn  every 
mansion — they  would  destroy  every  vestige  of  in 
dustry  and  its  triumphs — -fire  and  sword  would  sweep 
over  the  land,  and  leave  behind  them  no  traces  of 
life — nothing  but  a  black  and  blasted  heath.     The 
inhabitants  would  be  slaughtered  with  every  cruelty 
which  ingenious  malice  could  devise.     The  father 
or  the  husband  would   be  reserved  to.  witness  the 
violation  of  the  daughter  or  the  wife;  and  helpless 
females  would   be   spared  to  glut  the   savage    and 
brutal  passions  of  their  demoniac  captors,  amid  the 
palpitating  bodies  of  murdered   kindred,  and   the 
shrieks  of  those  reserved  for  peculiar  and  lingering 
torture.     Better  that  a  blast  from  Heaven,  like  that 
which  fell  upon  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  should  burst 
upon  the  South,  and  destroy  it  utterly  and  for  ever,, 
than  that  it  should  be  transformed  into  &  pandemo 
nium,  where  these  human  fiends  may  hold  their  in 
fernal  orgies,  their  Saturnalia  of  lust  and  blood.   Such 
are  the  triumphs  of  abolition.     Two   millions  and 
a  half  of  negroes,   hardy,  robust,   ferocious,  igno 
rant  and  brutal,  let  loose  upon  our  brethren  of  the 
South — chartered  to  rob,  burn,  violate, and  murder — 
to  sweep  the  fair  South  like  a  pestilence — and  leave 
it  an  added  monument  of  the  horrors  of  fanaticism. 
History  has  no  page  which  can  afford  a  picture  so? 
fearful,  so  revolting,  so  full  of  dread.  True  we  have 
examples  of  negro  revolt — of  the  mkfftfgh-t  confla 
gration,  and  the  noon-tide  massacre — scenes  of  lust,, 
cruelty,  and  horror,  over  which  the  arch  fiend  him 
self  might  sicken;,  but  they  were  contracted  in  ex 
tent,  and  temporary  in  duration.     Ours  may  spread 


248 

over  a  continent,  and  destroy  a  people — and  that 
people  our  brethren! 

Yet  the  authors  of  these  evils  affect  to  be  moved 
by  considerations  of  philanthropy!  What  a  guilty 
mockery  is  it  to  apply  such  a  word  to  their  schemes 
of  rapine  and  bloodshed.  Philanthropy!  Do  they 
consider  it  philanthropic  to  sound  the  war  blast 
through  a  land  before  peaceful  and  happy?  Does 
their  philanthropy  teach  them  to  haunt  the  pillow 
of  the  fair  and  spotless  females  of  the  South,  with 
dreams  and  images  of  dread  and  horror?  Is  it  phi 
lanthropic,  to  excite  the  negro  of  the  South  to  insur 
rection;  to  set  one  portion  of  our  country  against 
another,  and  fill  the  bosoms  of  our  people  with 
Stormy  passions  or  excited  fears?  Philanthropy, 
as  heretofore  understood,  seeks  the  happiness  of  the 
race.  It  is  the  shadow  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  Its 
form  is  mild  and  benignant — its  agents  are  persua 
sive  and  gentle:  hope  precedes,  and  rejoicing  fol 
lows  in  its  path.  It  has  nought  to  do  with  the 
stormy  and  the  terrific:  its  task  is  not  to  sound  the 
war  drum,  nor  to  preside  over  midnight,  conclaves  of 
treason  and  insurrection.  The  philanthropy  of  the 
abolitionists  is  a  Moloch,  with  a  brow  spotted  with 
blood,  and  hands  crimsoned  in  slaughter.  It  leads 
on  the  slave  to  the  murder  of  the  whites;  and  pre 
sides  over  the  scene,  where  the  cot  of  our  southern 
brethren  blazes  to  the  skies,  while  the  murdered 
forms  of  its  manly  inmates  mingle  with  its  ashes, 
and  the  female  loveliness  they  perished  in  protect 
ing  is  consigned  to  a  doom  worse  than  the  grave. 
Such  is  the  spirit  they  let  loose — and  upon  whom? 
Upon  our  own  brethren — those  knit,  to  us  by  the 
closest  and  holiest  ties — those  who,  in  the  hour  of 
our  danger,  have  always  opened  their  breasts,  and 
bared  their  arms,  in  our  defence — the  refined,  the 


249 

chivalrous,  the  patriotic,  and  devoted  Americans  of 
the  South!* 

But  the  consequences  of  emancipation  to  the 
slave  himself,  should  not  be  overlooked.  They  are 
now  tranquil  and  contented;  they  are  well  fed,  well 
clothed;  debarred  from  those  indulgences  so  dan 
gerous  to  the  negro,  and  secured  in  the  enjoyment  of 
all  that  is  really  valuable  to  him.  When  emanci 
pated,  he  loses  the  friend  that  sustained  him  in 
youth  and  age,  in  sickness  and  distress.  He  is 
without  land,  without  money,  without  experience, 
or  intelligence,  but  more  than  all,  without  habits  of 
self  restraint.  Thus  situated,  he  must  sink  to  the 
lowest  wretchedness.  Idleness,  poverty,  drunken 
ness,  vice,  suffering,  and  discontent  will  ensue. 
"You  may  manumit  a  slave,"  says  an  able  writer, 
"  but  you  cannot  make  him  a  white  man.  He  still 
remains  a  negro  or  mulatto.  The  mark  and  recol 
lection  of  his  origin,  and  former  state,  still  adhere 
to  him;  the  feelings  produced  by  that  condition,  in 
his  own  mind  a.nd  the  minds  of  the  whites,  still 
exist.  The  authority  of  the  master  being  removed, 
and  its  place  not  being  supplied  by  moral  restraints, 
or  incitement,  he  lives  in  idleness,  and  probably  in 
vice,  and  obtains  a  precarious  support,  by  begging 

*  "  Should  the  poor  blacks  of  the  South  be  instigated  to 
another  insurrection  by  the  agency  of  the  abolitionisfs  at  the 
North,  and  a  servile  war  ensue — followed,  as  it  might  be  to 
extermination,  and  as  it  would  be,  by  all  the  untold  and  un 
utterable  miseries  of  such  a  contest,  whose  skirts  will  be 
stained  with  the  blood  that  would  flow]  Upon  whom  might 
the  widow  charge  the  agony  she  was  doomed  to  suffer?  At 
whose  doors  would  lie  the  guilt  of  ravished  innocence?  To 
whom  would  the  orphan  have  occasion  to  point  as  the  mur 
derer  of  his  parents?  These  are  solemn  considerations,  which 
some  of  our  very  neighbours  may  yet  be  called  upon  solemnly 
to  answer — perhaps  at  a  more  awful  bar  than  any  upon  earth!" 
— jZV.  Y.  Com,  Adv.. 


250 

or  theft.  If  he  should  avoid  these  extremes,  and 
follow  some  regular  course  of  industry,  still  the 
habits  of  thoughtless  improvidence  which  he  con 
tracted  while  a  slave  himself,  or  has  caught  from  the 
slaves,  among  whom  he  is  forced  to  live,  who,  of 
necessity,  are  his  companions  and  associates,  pre 
vent  him  from  making  any  permanent  provision  for 
his  support,  by  prudent  foresight  and  economy;  and 
in  case  of  sickness,  or  bodily  disability  from  any  other 
cause,  send  him  to  live  as  a  pauper,  at  the  expense 
of  the  community."  This  description  is  intended 
for  the  emancipated  slave  under  our  present  institu 
tions:  the  emancipation  of  more  than  two  millions 
would,  of  course,  greatly  heighten  the  evils  men 
tioned  by  Mr.  Harper,  and  add  others  still  more 
formidable. 

The  consequences  of  the  emancipation  of  slaves, 
when  unfit  for  freedom,  have  uniformly  been  cala 
mitous  to  those  emancipated.  The  following  in 
stances  we  derive  from  Dew's  work  on  this  subject. 

"  We  have  already  said,  in  the  course  of  this  re 
view,  that  if  we  were  to  liberate  the  slaves,  we 
could  not,  in  fact,  alter  their  condition — they  would 
still  be  virtually  slaves;  talent,  habit  and  wealth, 
would  make  the  white  the  master  still,  and  the  eman 
cipation  would  only  have  the  tendency  to  deprive 
him  of  those  sympathies  and  kind  feelings  for  the 
black,  which  now  characterize  him.  Liberty  has 
been  the  heaviest  curse  to  the  slave,  when  given  too 
soon;  we  have  already  spoken  of  the  eagerness  and 
joy,  with  which  the  negroes  of  Mr.  Steele,  of  Bar- 
badoes,  returned  to  a  state  of  slavery.  The  East 
of  Europe  affords  hundreds  of  similar  instances. 
In  1791,  Stanislaus  Augustus,  preparing  a  hopeless 
resistance  to  the  threatened  attack  of  Russia,  in 
concert  with  the  states,  gave  to  Poland  a  constitu 
tion  which  established  the  complete  personal  free- 


251 

dom  of  the  peasantry.  The  boon  has  never  been 
recalled,  and  what  was  the  consequence?  Finding, 
says  Jones,  in  his  volume  on  Rents,  their  depen 
dence  on  their  proprietors  for  subsistence  remained 
undiminished,  the  peasants  showed  no  very  grateful 
sense  of  the  boon  bestowed  on  them;  they  feared 
they  should  now  be  deprived  of  all  claim  upon  their 
proprietors  for  assistance,  when  calamity  or  infir 
mity  overtook  them.  It  is  only  since  they  have 
discovered  that  the  connection  between  them  and 
the  owners  of  the  estates,  on  which  they  reside,  is 
little  altered  in  practice,  and  that  their  old  mas 
ters,  very  generally,  continue,  from  expediency  or 
humanity,  the  occasional  aid  they  formerly  lent 
them,  that  they  have  become  reconciled  to  their 
new  character  of  freemen.  "The  Polish  boors  are, 
therefore,  in  fact  still  slaves,"  says  Bennet,  in  his 
view  of  the  Present  State  of  Poland,  "and  rela 
tively  to  their  political  existence,  absolutely  subject 
to  the  will  of  their  lords  as  in  all  the  barbarism  of 
the  feudal  times. 

"  In  Livonia,  likewise,  the  serfs  were  prematurely 
liberated;  and  mark  the  consequence.  Van  Halen, 
who  travelled  through  Livonia,  in  1819,  observes, 
"along  the  high  road  through  Livonia,  are  found, 
at  short  distances,  filthy  public  houses,  called  in  the 
country  Ehatcharuas,  before  the  doors  of  which 
are  usually  seen,  a  multitude  of  wretched  carts  and 
sledges,  belonging  to  the  peasants,  who  are  so  ad 
dicted  to  brandy  and  strong  liquors,  that  they  spend 
whole  hours  in  those  places.  Nothing  proves  so 
much  the  state  of  barbarism,  in  which  these  men 
are  sunk,  as  the  manner  in  which  they  received  the 
decree  issued  about  this  time.  These  savages,  un^ 
willing  to  depend  upon  their  own  exertions  for 
support,  made  all  the  resistance  in  their  power 


252 

to  that  decree,  the  execution  of  which  was,  at 
length,  entrusted  to  an  armed  force" 

The  following  picture  of  Guatemala,  extracted 
from  "Dunn's  Sketches  of  Guatemala,  in  1827 — 
28,"  will  exhibit  the  effects  of  emancipation  in  that 
place.  "  With  a  Lazaroni  in  rags  and  filth,  a  colour 
ed  population  drunken  and  revengeful,  her  fe 
males  licentious,  and  her  males  shameless,  she  ranks 
as  a  true  child  of  that  accursed  city  which  still  re 
mains  as  a  living  monument  of  the  fulfilment  of  pro- 
phecy,  and  the  forbearance  of  God,  the  hole  of  every 
foul  spirit,  the  cage  of  every  unclean  and  hateful 
bird.  The  pure  and  simple  sweets  of  domestic  life, 
with  its  thousand  tendernesses,  and  its  gentle  affec 
tions,  are  here  exchanged  for  the  feverish  joys  of  a 
dissipated  hour;  and  the  peaceable  home  of  love  is 
converted  into  a  theatre  of  mutual  accusations  and 
recriminations.  This  leads  to  violent  excesses;  men 
carry  a  large  knife  in  a  belt;  women,  one  fastened 
in  the  garter.  Not  a  day  passes  without  murder. 
On  fast  days,  and  on  Sundays,  the  average  number 
killed  is  from  four  to  five.  From  the  number  ad 
mitted  into  the  hospital  of  St.  Juan  Dios,  it  appears 
that  in  the  year  1827,  near  fifteen  hundred  were 
stabbed;  of  whom,  from  three  to  four  hundred  died. 
Nor  is  the  freed  African  one  degree  raised  in  the 
scale — under  fewer  restraints,  his  vices  display 
themselves  more  disgustingly;  insolent  and  proud, 
indolent  and  a  liar,  he  imitates  only  the  vices  of 
his  superiors;  and,  to  the  catalogue  of  his  former 
crimes,  adds  drunkenness  and  theft." 

But  the  wretchedness  which  results  from  destitu 
tion  and  vice,  would  not  be  the  only  evil  that  would 
wait  upon  the  emancipated  slave.  Collision  with 
his  master  would  take  place.  Under  the  circum 
stances,  we  conceive  it  to  be  inevitable.  Can  the 


253 

abolitionist  suppose,  for  one  moment,  that  the  re 
sults  of  such  a  conflict  would  be  favourable  to  the 
slave?  A  philosophical  writer  has  justly  observed, 
that  "power  can  never  be  dislodged  from  the  hands 
of  the  intelligent,  the  wealthy,  and  the  courageous, 
by  any  plans  that  can  be  formed  by  the  poor,  the 
ignorant,  and  the  habitually  subservient;  history 
scarce  furnishes  such  an  example."  The  slaves  might 
ravage  the  South,  and  murder  hecatombs  of  vic 
tims — but  they  would  be  at  length  subdued.  And 
would  their  situation  be  improved?  Would  their 
masters  feel  more  kindly  to  them  after  such  a  con 
test?  Would  their  privileges  be  extended,  or  their 
condition  improved?  Would  their  cruelties  plead  in 
their  favour?  Would  the  remembrance  of  violated 
purity,  and  slaughtered  feebleness  stir  up  the  gentle 
affections  of  the  slaveholder;  and,  standing  upon 
his  blackened  hearth-stone,  would  his  breast  flow 
out  in  kindness  to  the  demons  who  had  effected  the 
ruin?  A  war  with  the  whites  must  produce  horrors 
unutterable.  The  whites  would  suffer  terribly — but 
awful  would  be  their  retribution;  and  if  the  negroes 
survived  the  contest,  it  would  be  to  curse  the  trai 
tors  who  fomented  the  quarrel. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


St.  Domingo  before  the  revolution — Insurrection 
originated  in  the  policy  of  France — Jlmis  des 
Noirs — Agitation  of  the  Colony  by  the  French 
—  Domestic  Dissensions —  Oge — Insurrection 
— French  Commissioners  proclaim  abolition 
of  Slavery — Massacres — Cruelty  of  revolted 
Slaves — Touissant — Le  Clerc  lands — Evacu 
ates  the  Island — Dessalines  —  Massacres — 
Christophe — Petion — Boyer — Present  state  of 
Hayti — Government — Population — Character 
of  Inhabitants — Agriculture —  Commerce — 
Free  Labour — Finances — Jirmy^  fyc. 

IN  the  present  chapter,  we  will  be  enabled  only  to 
present  the  prominent  features  of  the  history  of  the 
revolution  of  Hayti,  and  its  consequences  as  deve 
loped  in  the  present  condition  of  that  island.  It  is 
to  be  regretted,  that  our  citizens  are  not  generally 
more  familiar  with  that  history.  It  abounds  in 
truths  highly  important  in  the  present  political  state 
of  this  country;  and  would  do  much,  if  understood, 
to  dissipate  the  disastrous  and  malign  influence  of 
the  abolitionists. 

"  The  question,"  said  Mr.  Canning,  when  arguing 
this  subject  in  the  English  parliament,  "  to  be  de 
cided  is,  how  civil  rights,  moral  improvement,  and 
general  happiness  are  to  be  communicated  to  this 
overpowering  multitude  of  slaves,  with  safety  to  the 
lives,  and  security  to  the  interests  of  the  white  po 


255 

pulation,  our  fellow  subjects,  and  fellow  citizens. 
Is  it  possible  that  there  can  be  a  difference  of  opin 
ion  on  this  question?  Is  it  possible  that  those  most 
nearly  concerned,  and  those  who  contemplate  the 
great  subject  with  the  eye  of  the  philosopher  and  the 
moralist,  should  look  at  it  in  any  other  than  one 
point  of  view?" — Let  the  question  alluded  to  by  the 
great  statesman  be  decided  by  a  reference  to  the 
example  of  St.  Domingo. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  French  revolution, 
the  island  of  St.  Domingo  was  in  the  highest  state 
of  prosperity.      Its  inhabitants  were  tranquil  and 
contented;  its  soil  was  cultivated  with  the  greatest 
skill  and  assiduity.    The  sugar  cane,  the  coffee  tree, 
and  other  articles  of  tropical  culture,  were  produced 
in  abundance.    "  In  the  year  1791,"  says  St.  Mery, 
a  writer  of  great  credit,  "  there  were  in  the  French 
division  alone,  793  sugar  estates,  789  cotton  planta 
tions,  3117  of  coffee,  3150  of  indigo,  54  cocoa  manu 
factories,  and  623  smaller  settlements.     There  were 
also  40,000  horses,  50,000  mules,  and  250,000  cattle 
and  sheep;  and  the  quantity  of  land  actually  in  cul 
tivation  was  about  2,289,480  acres."    Mr.  Edwards 
and  others  state  the  amount  of  exports  as  follows: 
163,400,000  pounds  of  sugar;  68,150,000  pounds  of 
coffee;  6,286,000  pounds  of  cotton;  930,000poundsof 
indigo;  29,000  hogsheads  of  molasses,  &c.     Walton 
says,  that  the  amount  of  exports  was  about  six  mil 
lions  and  ninety-four  thousand,  two   hundred  and 
thirty  pounds,  English  money.  The  population  was, 
•at  the  same  time,  40,000  whites,  28,000  free  per 
sons  of  colour,  and  about  455,000  slaves;  and  the 
valuation  of  the  plantations  in  culture  was  about 
seventy  millions  sterling.     This,  it  must  be  remem 
bered,  does  not  comprise  the  Spanish  division — one 
third  of  the  whole  island. 

The  insurrection  in  St.  Domingo  did  not  com- 


256 

mence  with  the  blacks.  They  were  tranquil  and 
happy,  until  the  madmen  of  the  mother  country, 
ignorant  and  fanatical,  excited  them  to  discontent 
and  rebellion.  Franklin,  in  his  "  Present  State  of 
Hayti,"  says — "  It  has  been  erroneously  thought  by 
some  persons,  who  feel  interested  in  the  fate  of  the 
slave  population  of  the  West  Indies,  or,  at  all  events, 
they  have,  with  no  little  industry,  propagated  the 
impression,  that  the  revolution  in  Hayti  began  with 
the  revolt  of  the  blacks,  when  it  is  evident,  from 
the  very  best  authors,  and  from  the  testimony  of 
people  now  living,  who  were  present  during  its 
opening  scenes,  that  such  was  not  the  fact;  and  that 
the  slaves  remained  perfectly  tranquil  for  two  years 
after  the  celebrated  Declaration  of  Rights  was  pro 
mulgated  in  France.'-'  This  is  an  important  fact, 
and  should  not  be  lost  sight  of. 

The  first  cause  of  the  Haytien  revolution  was  the 
organization  of  an  abolition  Society  in  France,  called 
"  Amis  des  Noirs" — Friends  of  the  Blacks.  This 
society,  with  one  of  like  character  in  London,  by  a 
systematic  and  vigorous  course  of  agitation  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  succeeded  in  enlisting  the  French 
government  in  the  support  of  their  views,  and  of 
exciting  the  people  of  St.  Domingo,  particularly 
the  mulattoes,  to  discontent.  So  strong  was  the 
excitement  in  France  against  the  colonial  planters 
that,  says  a  writer  on  this  subject,  "  their  total  anni 
hilation  was  threatened."  The  resemblance  between 
this  menace  and  those  of  the  anti-slavery  men  in 
this  country  will  be  recognised.  We  hope  that  the 
results  will  not  bear  an  equal  resemblance. 

In  1789,  a  deputation  of  the  coloured  people  of  St. 
Domingo  waited  upon  the  French  National  Assem 
bly,  to  crave  a  recognition  of  their  alleged  rights. 
The  assembly  gave  them  a  favourable  answer;  and 
some  of  the  members  individually  expressed  their 


257 

determination  to  advocate  the  emancipation  of  the 
slaves. 

The  free  mulattoes  in  the  colony  were  the  first  to 
catch  the  spirit  of  insurrection  thus  fomented  by  the 
French.  They  claimed  a  participation  in  the  go 
vernment,  revolted,  and,  though  subdued,  were  still 
encouraged  by  the  French. 

The  commotions  caused  by  the  policy  of  the 
French  government  having  endangered  the  colony 
to  the  crown,  the  National  Assembly  in  1790  disa 
vowed  the  intention  of  altering  the  domestic  insti 
tutions  of  the  island. 

The  colony,  however,  continued  in  a  disturbed 
state.  The  whites  were  divided;  the  mulattoes,  a 
free  and  powerful  body  of  people,  were  urgent  in 
asserting  their  claims;  and  the  administration  and 
legislature  were  at  open  war.  So  high  did  these 
dissensions  rise,  that  the  governor  dissolved  the  As 
sembly;  the  members  of  which  sailed  to  France,  to 
appeal  to  the  king  and  National  Assembly. 

Oge,  a  mulatto,  educated  in  France,  and  filled  by 
the  French  fanatics  with  insurrectionary  principles 
and  feelings,  about  this  time  arrived  in  St.  Domingo. 
He  raised  the  banner  of  insurrection,  and  was  joined 
by  a  number  of  coloured  people,  but  was  defeated, 
taken,  and  executed.  Oge,  it  is  said,  was  encouraged 
by  the  English  abolitionists. 

The  slaves,  during  all  these  commotions,  re 
mained  quiet,  neither  dreaming  of,  nor  desiring, 
a  change  of  their  condition. 

The  members  of  the  Assembly  were,  on  their 
arrival  at  France,  arrested;  the  government  of  the 
colony  was  sustained  in  its  policy;  and  troops  were 
sent  to  St.  Domingo,  to  protect  the  governor  in  his 
insidious  efforts  in  favour  of  the  coloured  popula 
tion.  The  news  of  the  execution  of  Oge  also  ex 
cited  great  indignation  in  the  French  legislature. 
22* 


258 

Robespierre,  the  great  champion  of  abolition,  said- — 
"  Perish  the  colonies,  rather  than  sacrifice  one  iota 
of  our  principles."  The  policy  thus  recommended 
was  pursued,  and  the  colony  did  perish.  The  French 
legislature  at  once  raised  the  mulattoes,  or  people  of 
colour,  to  the  full  privileges  of  French  citizens,  being 
allowed  all  the  rights  of  the  whites.  This  law  was 
passed  in  May,  1791. 

This  decree  was  received,  by  the  colonies,  with 
such  violence  and  resentment,  that  the  governor 
was  constrained  to  promise  that  it  should  not  go 
into  operation.  The  mulattoes,  however,  flew  to 
arms,  and  insisted  upon  its  recognition.  "  Here," 
says  Franklin,  "  it  will  be  perceived  the  first  serious 
symptoms  of  tumult  and  insubordination  appeared, 
not  from  any  revolt  of  the  slave  population,  but 
from  the  unhappy  interference  of  the  National  As 
sembly  of  France,  influenced  by  the  supporters  and 
advocates  of  the  people  of  colour,  and  the  society 
Jimis  des  Noirs" 

He  proceeds  to  state,  that,  had  this  interference 
been  declined,  St.  Domingo  would  have  remained 
tranquil,  the  negro  cultivators  would  have  been  hap 
pier  than  they  have  been  rendered,  and  oceans  of 
human  blood  would  have  been  spared. 

The  same  statement  is  made  by  other  writers,  and 
is  so  completely  borne  out  by  the  historical  facts, 
that  we  believe  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  con 
tradict  it.  The  important  lesson  involved  in  the 
statement,  should  not  be  lost  upon  this  country. 

The  first  act  of  open  rebellion  took  place,  on  the 
Cape,  in  August,  1791.  The  slaves  murdered  the 
whites  and  burned  all  the  improvements.  The 
slaves  of  the  neighbouring  plantations  joined  them; 
and  the  whole  South  was  threatened  with  ruin. 
"  The  barbarity ,"  says  Franklin,  "  which  marked 
their  progress  exceeds  description^  an  indiscrimi- 


259 

nate  slaughter  of  the  whites  ensued,  except  in  in 
stances  where  some  of  the  females  were  reserved 
for  a  more  wretched  doom,  being  made  to  submit 
to  the  brutal  lusts,  of  the  most  sanguinary  wretches 
that  ever  disgraced  humanity.  Cases  are  upon 
record,  where  the  most  amiable  of  the  female  sex 
were  first  brought  forth  to  see  their  parents  inhu 
manly  butchered,  and  were  afterwards  compelled 
to  submit  to  the  embraces  of  the  very  villain  who 
acted  as  their  executioner.  The  distinctions  of  age 
had  no  effect  on  these  ruthless  savages;  for  even 
girls  of  twelve  and  fourteen  yeans,  were  made  the 
objects  of  satiating  their  lust  and  revenge.  No 
thing  could  exceed  the  consternation  of  the  white 
people;  and  the  lamentations  of  the  unhappy  women 
struck  every  one  with  horror.  Such  a  scene  of 
massacre  has  scarcely  been  heard  of,  as  that  which 
accompanied  the  commencement  of  the  revolution 
in  the  South." 

Some  of  the  mulattoes  joined  the  blacks;  and 
with  their  united  force,  gained  several  advantages 
over  the  troops  sent  against  them  and  extended 
their  ravages  over  the  country. 

"The  defeat  of  the  whites/'  says  Franklin,  "was 
followed  by  a  scene  of  cruelties  and  butcheries 
which  exceeds  imagination;  almost  every  individual 
who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  revolters,  met  with  a 
wretched  end,  tortures  of  the  most  shocking  de~ 
scription  being  resorted  to  by  these  blood-thirsty 
savages/' 

It  is  deserving  of  remark,  and  should  be  remem 
bered,  that  a  number  of  Frenchmen  encouraged  and 
assisted  these  revolts;  and  Mackenzie,  in  his  notes 
on  Hayti.  says,  "  The  priests  are  accused  of  hav 
ing  sanctioned  the  murderous  proceedings  of  the 
negro  chiefs,  and  several  were  executed"  So 
fiendlike  is  the  temper  of  ianaticism* 


260 

The  danger  of  the  whites  induced  them  to  enter 
into  a  treaty  with  the  coloured  people,  called  the 
concordat,  hy  which  they  agreed  to  unite  for 
mutual  defence  against  the  negroes.  By  the  con 
cordat,  the  national  decree  elevating  the  coloured 
people  to  the  rights  of  citizens,  was  recognized. 
But  scarcely  was  this  union  effected,  before  it  was 
blasted,  by  the  arrival  of  another  decree  from 
France,  abrogating  the  former  one,  and  restoring 
the  coloured  population  to  their  former  state  of  in 
feriority.  The  confusion  created  by  this  inconsis 
tency,  was  still  further  heightened,  by  the  subse 
quent  arrival  of  still  another  decree,  re-establishing 
the  first  and  re-elevating  the  coloured  people  to  an 
equality  with  the  whites.  Thus  were  all  hopes  of 
union  and  effectual  defence  overthrown,  by  the  im 
prudence  and  ignorance  of  the  abolitionists  of  the 
mother  country. 

The  ravages  of  the  slaves,  meanwhile,  continued. 
The  loss  of  the  whites  was  extensive,  but  not  equal 
to  that  of  the  slaves.  It  is  estimated,  that  10,000 
slaves  perished,  by  the  sword  and  by  famine,  in 
the  first  revolt  in  the  South.  In  their  encounters 
with  the  whites,  they  exhibited  no  courage;  and 
when  successful,  it  was  wholly  to  be  ascribed  to  their 
immense  superiority  of  numbers.  Cowardly,  igno 
rant,  and  unprovided  with  military  resources,  they 
were  cut  down  by  thousands,  and  might  have  been 
readily  suppressed,  had  not  the  policy  of  the  Na 
tional  Government,  divided  and  distracted  the  free 
inhabitants  of  the  colony. 

The  anti-slavery  men  of  France,  instead  of  being 
taught  wisdom  by  the  awful  consequences  of  their 
imprudences,  succeeded  in  passing,  on  the  4th  of 
April,  a  decree  directly  contemplating  complete 
emancipation,  elevating  the  free  negroes  and  colour 
ed  people  to  complete  equality  with  the  whites,  and 


261 

directing,  that  8,000  of  the  national  guards  be  sent 
out  to  enforce  the  decree.  This  fatal  decree  was 
forcibly  opposed  by  the  colonists;  and  the  French 
Commissioners,  sent  over  to  enforce  it,  finding 
themselves  unable  to  subdue  their  opponents,  "  call 
ed  in  the  aid  of  the  revolted  slaves,  offering  them 
their  freedom,  and  promising  that  the  city  of  the 
Cape  should  be  given  up  for  plunder."  Thus  we 
perceive  the  foreign  abolitionists  joining  the  slaves, 
and  aiding  them  in  the  perpetration  of  the  atroci 
ties  which  desolated  the  island.  "  Men,  women,  and 
children,"  says  Franklin,  "  were,  without  distinc 
tion,  unmercifully  slaughtered  by  these  barbarians; 
and  those  who  had  escaped  the  first  rush  into  the 
city,  and  had  reached  the  water  side,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  getting  on  board  the  ships  in  the  harbour, 
were  intercepted  and  their  retreat  cut  off  by  these 
merciless  wretches,  just  at  the  moment  when  ar 
rangements  had  been  accomplished  for  their  em 
barkation.  Here  the  mulattoes  had  an  opportunity 
of  gratifying  their  revenge;  here  they  had  arrived 
at  the  summit  of  their  greatest  ambition  and  glory; 
here  it  was  that  these  cowardly  and  infamous  parri 
cides,  gorged  with  human  blood,  sacrificed  their 
own  parents,  and  afterwards  subjected  their  bodies 
to  every  species  of  insult  and  indignity;  here  it  was 
that  these  disciples  of  Robespierre — this  injured  and 
oppressed  race — the  theme  of  Gregoire's  praise,  and 
the  subject  of  his  appeal  and  harangue,  showed 
themselves  worthy  disciples  of  such  masters!  If 
any  thing  were  wanting  to  establish  the  fact  of 
these  scenes  being  unexampled,  and  without  a  pa 
rallel,  one  thing,  I  am  sure,  will  alone  be  sufficient, 
and  that  is,  that  the  commissioners,  those  amiable 
representatives  of  the  national  assembly,  the  im 
maculate  Santhonax,  and  the  equally  humane 
and  virtuous  Polverel,  those  vicegerents  of  the 


262 

society  of  Jlmis  des  Noirs,  those  protectors  of  the 
mulattoes,  were  struck  with  horror  at  the  scene 
which  was  presented  to  them,  and  repaired  to  the 
ships,  there  to  become  spectators  of  the  effects  of 
their  own  crimes,  and  of  a  splendid  and  opulent 
city  devoured  by  the  flames  which  had  been  lighted 
by  the  torch  of  anarchy  and  rebellion."* 

*  When  the  revolters  first  entered  the  city,  every  man, 
woman,  and  child,  were  bayoneted  or  cut  down  with  such 
instruments  as  they  could  muster;  but  the  young  females 
were,  in  most  cases,  spared  for  the  momentary  gratification  of 
the  lust  of  those  into  whose  hands  they  fell;  one  case  of  the 
most  singular  enormity  took  place: — the  leader  of  the  revolt 
ed  slaves,  named  Gautier,  had  entered  the  house  of  a  re 
spectable  merchant  in  the  square,  in  which  were  the  proprie 
tor,  his  wife,  his  two  sons  and  three  daughters.  The  sons 
were  young,  not  exceeding  the  age  of  ten,  but  the  daughters 
were  elegant  young  women,  the  eldest  about  eighteen,  and 
the  youngest  not  exceeding  fourteen.  Gautier,  assisted  by 
one  or  two  wretches,  equally  inhuman,  promised  to  spare  the 
family,  on  account  of  his  having  received  many  acts  of  kind 
ness  from  the  father,  to  whom  he  was  often  sent  by  his  mas 
ter  on  business,  he  being  a  domestic  slave.  These  poor 
creatures,  who  were  at  first  half  expiring  from  the  terror  of 
the  scene  around  them,  and  from  the  idea  of  being  the  cap 
tives  of  barbarians,  recovered  somewhat  from  the  alarm  into 
which  they  had  been  thrown,  through  the  promises  of  secu 
rity,  thus  unconditionally  pledged  to  them ;  and  although 
not  permitted  to  go  out  of  the  sight  of  their  captors,  they 
did  not  apprehend  that  any  mischief  was  in  embryo,  and 
that  their  lives  were  to  be  sacrificed.  Impressed  with 
the  idea  of  safety,  they  proceeded  to  prepare  a  repast  for 
their  supposed  guardians,  and  set  it  before  them  in  the  same 
splendour,  as  they  were  wont  to  do,  when  receiving  their 
best  and  dearest  friends.  Gautier  drank  freely,  and  his  com 
peers  did  no  little  justice  to  the  rich  repast.  Night  coming 
on,  and  apprehensive  of  the  consequences  of  a  surprise  from 
the  enemy's  force,  they  began  to  deliberate  upon  what  plan 
they  should  adopt  to  secure  their  unhappy  captives  from 
flight,  when,  not  being  able  to  devise  any  thing  likely  to  be 
effectual,  they  came  to  the  savage  resolution  of  murdering 
them  all.  The  daughters  were  locked  up  in  a  room,  under 


263 

Many  of  the  planters  having  applied  to  England 
for  aid,  the  commissioners  from  France,  to  enable 
themselves  to  raise  a  force  sufficient  to  defend  the 
island  from  any  attempts  by  the  English  troops, 
"proclaimed  the  abolition  of  every  species  of 
slavery,  declaring  that  the  negroes  ivere  thence 
forth  to  be  considered  as  free  citizens" — and 
thereby,  says  Franklin,  "  assigned  over,  to  a  lawless 
banditti,  the  fee-simple  of  every  property  in  the 
French  part  of  the  island  of  St.  Domingo,  placing 
every  white  inhabitant  within  almost  the  grasp  of  a 
set  of  people  insensible  to  every  feeling  of  humani 
ty,  rude  and  ruthless  as  in  their  native  wilds." 
The  consequences  were  such  as  might  have  been 
expected.  A  charter  was  given  to  crime.  Blood 
flowed  in  torrents;  lust  and  violation  were  made 
things  of  custom;  and  the  population  lost  almost  the 
traits  which  distinguish  humanity  from  the  brute. 
Franklin,  in  concluding  his  account  of  this  sangui 
nary  commencement  of  the  revolution,  reiterates 
that  "  the  cause  of  those  disturbances  did  not  pro 
ceed  from  the  oppression  and  the  tyranny  practised 

the  watch  of  two  of  the  revolters,  whilst  the  remainder  of 
them  commenced  the  bloody  task  by  bayoneting  the  two 
sons.  The  mother,  on  her  knees,  imploring  mercy  with 
pitiful  cries,  met  with  the  same  fate;  whilst  the  husband, 
who  was  bound  hand  and  foot,  was  barbarously  mangled  by 
having,  first  his  arms,  and  then  his  legs  cut  off,  and  after 
wards  run  through  the  body.  During  this  blood-thirsty 
scene,  the  daughters,  ignorant  of  the  tragic  end  of  their 
parents,  were  in  a  state  of  alarm  and  terror  not  to  be  describ 
ed,  yet  hoping  that  their  lives  were  safe.  But,  alas  !  how 
deceitful  that  hope !  for  their  destiny  was  fixed  and  their 
time  but  short.  Gautier  and  his  diabolical  associates,  went 
into  their  room,  stripped  them  naked,  and  committed  on  their 
defenceless  persons  the  most  brutal  enormities,  when,  with 
the  dead  bodies  of  their  parents,  they  were  thrown  into  the 
flames,  which  were  then  surrounding  them,  where  they  all 
perished. — Franklin. 


264 

over  the  slaves,  but  from  the  measures  of  the  na 
tional  assembly,  the  colonial  assemblies,  and  by  that 
specious  and  intriguing  body,  the  Society  of  *fl.mis 
des  Noirs,  (the  Anti-Slavery  Society  of  France,) 
and  the  coloured  people  then  residing  in  France, 
who  had  been  tainted  with  the  pernicious  doctrines 
then  prevailing  in  that  country/' 

Immediately  after  the  abolition  of  slavery,  by  the 
representatives  of  the  French  Government,  the 
slaves  rose  simultaneously  in  the  different  parishes, 
formed  into  bodies,  took  possession  of  the  moun 
tains,  and  secured  themselves  in  the  fastnesses  of 
the  island.  They  then  sallied  forth,  spreading  deso 
lation  around  them,  burning  and  destroying  the 
plantations,  demolishing  every  description  of  habi 
tation,  and  murdering  every  white  inhabitant  that 
fell  into  their  power.  In  one  part  of  the  colony 
the  insurgents  amounted  to  more  than  100,000  men, 
without  any  leader  who  had  the  least  command 
over  them.  In  the  North,  their  force,  at  first  25,000, 
soon  increased  to  40,000,  of  the  most  desperate  and 
sanguinary  character. 

On  the  19th  of  September,  1793,  an  English 
force  landed  in  the  island  and  occupied  the  posts  of 
Jeremie  and  Nicholas  Mole.  The  act  of  abolition 
having  removed  all  cause  of  war  between  the 
French  Government  and  the  blacks,  the  French 
soldiers  and  the  natives  united  to  oppose  the  Eng 
lish.  It  is  unnecessary  to  recite  the  details  of  this 
destructive  and  sanguinary  war.  It  continued  for 
five  years,  with  various  success,  and  was  terminated 
in  1798,  by  the  evacuation  of  the  island  by  the 
British. 

At  the  period  of  the  evacuation  of  the  island  by 
the  British,  Gen.  Hidouville,  agent  of  the  French 
Directory,  elevated  two  negro  chieftians,  Touissant 
and  Rigaud,  to  the  rank  of  Generals  in  Chief.  This 


265 

created  a  motive  of  contention  not  to  be  resisted. 
The  slaughter  was  recommenced  by  the  rival  chiefs; 
and  a  war  of  extermination  carried  on  until  1800, 
when  Rigaud  was  expelled  from  the  island,  and 
Touissant  left  in  supreme  power. 

Touissant  did  his  utmost  to  raise  the  island  from 
the  depths  into  which  it  had  fallen.  He  was  ac 
quainted  with  the  negro  character,  and  ruled  with 
a  rod  of  iron.  No  despotism  could  have  been  more 
illimitable  in  its  power.  He  encouraged  the  plan 
ters  to  return  to  their  estates,  and  issued,  in  1800, 
an  edict,  requiring  the  people,  who  had  abandoned 
all  regular  labour,  to  return  to  their  agricultural 
pursuits.  The  regulation  of  labour  was  the  same 
as  those  of  the  slaves  in  the  English  West  Indies, 
both  in  the  extent  and  intensity  of  the  labour.  The 
system  was  severe,  but  successful.  "  If  degradation 
accompanied  labour,"  says  the  historian,  "  the  cul 
tivators  under  Touissant  were  the  most  abject  peo 
ple  in  existence,  for  they  were  driven  to  it  under 
the  strong  arm  of  military  power,  and  for  any  of 
fence  which  they  committed  they  were  liable  to  be 
brought  before  a  military  tribunal.  There  were  no 
civil  authorities  by  which  the  indolent  or  refractory 
cultivator  was  to  be  tried  for  his  offences;  there  was 
no  distinction  between  the  vagrant,  who  was  de 
tected  in  idleness,  and  the  soldier  who  fled  from 
his  post,  they  were  both  answerable  to  the  military, 
power,  were  sentenced  by  court  martial,  and  award 
ed  an  equal  punishment."  The  regulations  of  the 
despotic  Touissant,  though  they  inflicted  upon  the 
negroes  a  bondage  and  servitude,  more  oppressive 
than  the  sway  of  their  former  masters,  proved  wise 
and  salutary,  and  did  much  to  improve  the  state  of 
the  country,  and  the  condition  of  the  people. 

In  1802,  the  French  Government  determined  to 
restore  the  island  to  its  former  condition,  as  a  colo- 
23 


266 

ny  of  France,  to  re-establish  slavery,  and  reinstate 
the  planters  in  their  original  properties.  To  effect 
this,  an  expedition  of  25,000  men,  under  General 
Le  Clerc,  landed  in  the  island.  They  succeeded,  after 
a  protracted  struggle,  in  getting  possession  of  Touis- 
sant,  who  was  sent  to  France.  The  war  was  however 
renewed  under  Christophe  and  Dessalines,  the  lead 
ers  of  the  negroes,  and  was  prosecuted  with  the 
most  sanguinary  fury.  After  a  struggle  of  unex 
ampled  ferocity,  the  French  were,  in  November, 
1803,  forced  to  evacuate  the  island.  The  loss  of  the 
French  army  in  this  war  is  estimated  at  62,000. 
The  loss  of  the  negroes,  in  battle  and  by  famine, 
must  have  been  much  greater. 

On  the  first  of  January,  1804,  Hayti  was  declared 
independent.  Dessalines,  who  had  been  invested 
with  the  chief  command,  on  the  departure  of  the 
French,  permitted  those  who  wished  it,  to  leave  the 
island,  but  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  promised 
protection  and  security,  to  those  who  preferred  re 
maining.  The  inhabitants  availed  themselves  of 
this  offer  of  clemency,  and  remained.  But  scarcely 
were  they  in  the  power  of  this  monster,  before  he 
invited,  by  a  general  call,  the  people  to  revenge 
their  wrongs,  and  execute  vengeance  on  the  whites. 
«  The  white  French  people,  therefore,"  says  Frank 
lin,  "  were  indiscriminately  sacrificed.  No  age  nor 
sex  was  spared;  the  brutal  soldiers,  led  on  by  their 
merciless  officers,  ran  from  door  to  door,  and  left 
not  one  alive  whom  they  could  find  within;  the 
females,  whose  amiable  softness  might  have  stayed 
the  hand  of  the  savage  in  his  native  wilds,  first 
endured  the  most  dreadful  violation,  and  then  were 
bayoneted  and  most  shockingly  mangled." 

This  massacre  of  an  entire  population,  was  suc 
ceeded  by  an  act  of  crafty  ferocity,  which  history 
cannot  parallel.  "  He  gave  out  by  proclamation, 


267 

that,  as  he  intended  to  stay  his  vengeance  for  the 
sufferings  to  which  his  brethren  had  been  exposed, 
all  those  who  had  escaped  execution  under  his  mili 
tary  decree,  should  appear  at  an  appointed  spot,  for 
the  purpose  of  receiving  tickets,  which  might  in 
future  protect  them  from  the  vengeance  of  the 
people;  and  many  who  had  been  fortunate  enough 
to  escape,  as  they  thought,  in  the  first  massacre,  be 
came  the  victims  of  the  second ;  for  no  sooner  did 
these  unsuspecting  and  deluded  creatures  obtain 
what  they  conceived  an  assurance,  that  their  lives 
would  be  spared,  than  leaving  their  hiding  places, 
they  ran  with  eagerness,  to  the  place  announced  for 
issuing  the  tickets,  when  they  were  immediately 
seized  and  led  away  for  instant  execution." 

On  the  8th  of  October,  Dessalines  was  crowned 
emperor  of  Hayti.  The  emperor  was  scarcely 
seated  on  his  throne,  before  he  endeavoured  to  re 
vive  the  African  slave-trade.  His  object  was  to 
procure  labourers,  which  were  required  for  the  cul 
tivation  of  the  lands.  He  entered  into  a  negotia 
tion  with  the  English;  and  offered  to  give  an  ex 
clusive  grant  for  the  prosecution  of  the  trade,  but 
was  unable  to  induce  them  to  embark  in  it. 

The  code  of  Touissant  was  revived,  to  cause  the 
inhabitants  to  labour.  Of  this  Franklin  remarks, 
"  Whatever  may  be  said  about  the  freedom  of  the 
cultivators,  by  the  advocates  of  free  labour,  I  must 
be  permitted  to  say,  that  no  instance  has  yet  been 
adduced  of  such  freedom  in  practice,  and  that  the 
code  of  Touissant,  which  was  acted  upon  by  his 
successor,  exhibits  greater  proof  of  the  existence  of 
coercion  than  any  thing  I  have  seen." 

Dessalines  was  murdered  on  the  17th  of  October, 
1806,  and  Christophe  succeeded  him.  Christophe 
however,  found  a  competitor  in  Petion;  and  a  war 
ensued.  The  former  obtained  and  kept  the  com- 


268 

mand  of  the  Northern  part  of  the  island,  and  Petion 
retained  the  control  of  the  South. 

An  incident,  which  occurred  in  the  commence 
ment  of  Christophe's  reign,  affords  a  good  example 
to  the  abolitionists  of  the  North,  and  proves  that 
even  the  barbarous  negro  chieftain  had  a  better  sense 
of  the  rights  of  others  than  the  philanthropic  zealots 
who  interfere  with  the  institutions  of  our  southern 
states.  Discovering  that  some  individuals  in  the 
island  were  intriguing  to  excite  insurrection  in  the 
island  of  Jamaica,  he  had  them  arrested,  and  brought 
to  punishment,  for  violating  the  rights  of  an  inde 
pendent  and  stranger  community. 

The  reign  of  Christophe  was  severe,  tyrannical, 
and  despotic,  while  the  government  of  Petion  was 
relaxed  and  mild.  The  former  was  successful  and 
efficient;  the  latter  feeble  and  unfortunate.  The 
former  cotrced  his  subjects — for  his  subjects  were 
his  slaves — to  labour,  and  agriculture  and  commerce 
partially  revived;  the  latter  endeavoured  by  gentle 
measures  to  induce  his  people  to  toil,  and  soon  saw 
his  government  bankrupt,  and  his  people  vicious, 
idle,  and  impoverished. 

In  1818  Petion  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  Boyer. 
Christophe  also  died  in  1820;  and  the  whole  island 
was  then  consolidated  under  the  government  of 
Boyer.  From  that  period  to  the  present  the  history 
of  Hayti  presents  no  event  worthy  of  mention  in 
this  brief  review. 

We  will  now  take  a  cursory  view  of  the  condition 
and  government  of  Hayti,  to  ascertain  whether  an 
experiment,  which  cost  seas  of  blood,  has  resulted  in 
an  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  people. 

The  government  is  called  a  republic.  The  presi 
dent  holds  his  office  for  life,  and  appoints  his  suc 
cessor;  he  appoints  all  functionaries;  proposes  all 
laws,  except  those  connected  with  taxation;  can  issue 


269 

proclamations  in  conformity  with  the  laws,  and  com 
pel  obedience.  "  In  short,"  says  Mackenzie,  "  the 
whole  power  of  the  state  is  centred  in  the  chief,  ex 
cept  in  points  which  may  be  easily  nullified." 
The  President,  in  truth,  is  despotic. 

The  population  of  the  island  previous  to  the  revo 
lution  was  estimated  at  643,000.  The  population  in 
1S02  was  estimated  by  Humboldt  at  375,000.  Such 
were  the  ravages  of  the  revolution.  The  population 
in  1826  appears  to  have  been  423,042.  The  increase 
of  population  is  estimated  at  sixty-one  hundredths 
per  cent,  which  is  very  little  more  than  one  half  the 
increase  in  densely  peopled  countries.  The  people 
of  Hayti  are  universally  described  as  idle,  improvi 
dent,  licentious,  and  immoral.  Mackenzie,  the  Bri 
tish  consul,  in  his  report  to  government  says, — "  No 
measures  of  the  government  can  induce  the  young 
Creoles  to  labour,  or  depart  from  their  habitual  licen 
tiousness  and  vagrancy."  "  The  few  young  females 
that  live  on  plantations  seldom  assist  in  any  labour 
whatever,  but  live  in  a  constant  state  of  idleness  and 
debauchery.  This  is  tolerated  by  the  soldiery  and 
military  police,  whose  licentiousness  is  gratified  by 
this  means."  "  Marriage,  formally  solemnized,  is 
not  so  common  as  unions  of  another  kind;  and  it  is 
not  uncommon  for  one  man  to  be  the  protector  of 
many  women." 

(t  In  the  interior,"  says  Franklin,  "  the  people 
are  in  the  lowest  state  of  moral  degradation — every 
thing  shows  it — their  habits  and  manner  of  living. 
In  secluded  places  they  congregate  and  follow  all  the 
propensities  of  nature;  and  indulge  in  all  the  vices 
of  lust  and  sensuality,  without  limits,  and  without 
control.  It  is  not  possible,  I  think,  for  any  one  to 
visit  their  habitations  without  returning  from  them 
with  the  conviction  that  their  present  state  is  much 
below  anything  that  can  be  imagined  to  have  existed 
23* 


270 

in  the  worst  state  of  society  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
In  the  new  republics  of  South  America,  in  which 
society  is  very  backward  also,  the  prevailing  habits 
present  some  appearance  of  improvement;  but  in 
the  country  districts  of  Hayti  there  are  no  demon 
strations  of  advancement  from  that  deplorable  igno 
rance  in  which  they  seem  to  have  existed  from  the 
period  of  the  revolution;  no  change  in  their  loose 
and  dissolute  manners  and  customs,  but  a  fixed  and 
determined  perseverance  in  all  the  primitive  vices 
of  the  African  race." 

The  catholic  is  the  established  religion  of  the 
country.  It  is  stated,  however,  that  a  large  portion 
of  the  inhabitants  differ  but  little  in  their  religion 
from  their  African  ancestors.  "  Three  fourths  of 
them,"  says  Franklin,  "  are  as  rank  idolaters  as 
their  forefathers  were  in  Africa."  The  clergy  con 
sists  in  all  of  thirty-eight  pastorsy  for  the  whole 
republic. 

In  relation  to  the  agriculture  of  Hayti,  Mr.  Mac 
kenzie  has  collected  much  valuable  and  authentic 
information.  The  rulers,  who  have  at  different  times 
swayed  that  unhappy  country  since  the  revolution, 
established  different  codes  regulating  the  labour  of 
the  people.  All  these  codes  discarded  the  notion 
of  free  labour,  and  coerced  the  people  to  toil.  The 
most  severe  of  these  codes  proved  the  wisest  and 
most  salutary  in  its  results.  Under  Touissant  "  the 
whip  was  abolished;  but  thick  sticks,  the  stems  of 
creeping  plants,  called  in  Hayti  <  lianes,'  were  used 
without  scruple;  and,  not  unfrequently,  the  sabre, 
the  musket,  and  even  burying  alive,  were  resorted 
to  as  punishments  for  refractory  gangs,  or  ateliers." 
The  same  punishments  were  used  under  Pessalines. 
The  code  rural,  which  now  regulates  the  labour  of 
the  people,  is  thus  described  by  Mackenzie:  "Many 
of  the  regulations  correspond  with  some  contained 


271 

in  the  code  noir  and  the  subsequent  laws  of  Chris- 
tophe;  but  the  consequences  of  delinquency  are 
heavy  fine  and  imprisonment,  and  the  provisions  of 
the  law  are  as  despotic  as  can  well  be  conceived." 

The  following  table  of  the  exports  from  1789  to 
1826,  will  exhibit  the  ruinous  consequences  of  the 
revolution.  A  comparison  of  the  present  amount 
raised,  with  the  amount  raised  before  the  revolution, 
will  show  the  comparative  advantages  of  slave  and 
free  negro  labour. 


-^ 
co 
oo 


> 


s 


rf 

ets^«p 


CM  r-T 


cj  ^  ;»  «  O  -^  «tfcf 

?2  «O  »O_  Tt  P-  Io 

co  oo  v$<moi 

Ci  --I 


j— i  co  op  to  oo  op"  to"       j£J 


i—  i  o  QO  t-  r» 

co  rt  crj  10  oo 

10   »0   rH   -M   t^ 

^ 


I 

2-T;3Z.T^fT'-ilOl^OOTio  cr 

»oco*ef^«u$'r4%oj'tc       ,  o 


£ 

3 

c 


273 

"  The  general  results  of  this  table,"  observes  Mr. 
Mackenzie,  from  whose  valuable  work  we  extract 
it,  "appear  fully  to  justify  the  conclusion  of  the 
decline  of  systematic  industry,  and  of  the  advance 
of  whatever,  though  chiefly  done  by  nature,  may  be 
finished  at  uncertain  periods  by  man." 

Every  traveller  in  Hayti  describes  its  present  as 
pect,  as  melancholy  in  the  extreme.  That  opulent 
island  has  been  allowed,  by  the  slothful  inhabitants, 
to  revert  almost  to  a  state  of  nature.  The  buildings 
are  destroyed;  the  mills  overthrown;  the  fertile  val 
leys  overgrown;  and  the  whole  country,  with  few 
exceptions,  left  to  run  waste.  We  have  not  space 
for  extracts  to  sustain  this  assertion,  but  refer  the 
reader  to  "Mackenzie's  Notes  on  Hayti,"  and 
"  Franklin's  Present  State  of  Hayti." 

"  It  is  indisputable,"  says  the  author  of  the  latter 
work,  "that  the  declaration  of  freedom  to  the  slave 
population  in  Hayti  was  the  ruin  of  the  country,  and 
that  it  has  not  been  attended  with  those  benefits 
which  the  sanguine  philanthropists  of  Europe  an 
ticipated.  The  inhabitants  have  neither  advanced 
in  moral  improvement,  nor  are  their  civil  rights 
more  respected;  their  condition  is  not  changed  for 
the  better.  They  are  not  slaves,  it  is  true,  but  they 
are  suffering  under  greater  deprivations  than  can 
well  be  imagined,  whilst  slaves  have  nothing  to  ap 
prehend,  for  they  are  clothed,  fed,  and  receive  every 
medical  aid  in  time  of  sickness.  The  free  labourer 
in  Hayti,  from  innate  indolence,  and  from  his  state 
of  ignorance,  obtains  barely  enough  for  his  subsist 
ence.  He  cares  not  for  clothing,  and,  as  to  aid  under 
sickness,  he  cannot  obtain  it;  thus  he  is  left  to  follow 
a  course  that  sinks  him  to  a  level  with  the  brute 
creation;  and  the  reasoning  faculties  of  the  one  are 
almost  inferior  to  the  instinct  of  the  other," 


274 

The  commerce  of  Hayti  has  sunk  with  its  agri 
culture.  It  appears  to  be  still  unchecked  in  its  down 
ward  career;  and  from  the  activity  and  permanence 
of  the  causes  of  its  depression,  the  general  decay  of 
the  country,  the  policy  of  the  government,  and  the 
character  of  the  people,  there  is  little  room  to  hope 
for  an  improvement. 

The  finances  of  the  country  appear  to  be  in  the 
worst  possible  state.  In  1827,  the  state  of  the  finances 
was  represented  as  follows: — 

Annual  expenditure  $3,101,115 

Interest  on  loan  450,000 


Total  expenditure  $3,551,115 

This  sum  of  three  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars, 
was  to  be  provided  for  out  of  two  millions  and  a 
half,  the  estimated  revenue  of  18,25,  or  of  one  mil 
lion  and  a  half,  the  estimate  for  1826.  How  the 
financial  necromancy  of  Hayti  effected  the  miracle, 
we  are  unable  to  explain. 

The  regular  paid  military  of  Hayti  is  about  30,000 
men,  in  addition  to  the  militia  of  the  island.  The 
object  of  maintaining  this  large  force  is,  no  doubt, 
to  awe  the  people  into  submission  to  the  despot  who 
bears  the  republican  title  of  "  president."  Hayti 
has  no  navy. 

Such  have  been  the  consequences  of  abolition  to 
Hayti.  The  mad  fanatics  of  Paris  forced  the  slaves 
into  insurrection — and  after  scenes  of  inconceivable 
and  diabolical  atrocity — after  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  victims  have  perished — after  a  war  of  thirty-one 
years — what  does  she  exhibit  to  the  world?  A 
despotic,  military  government;  a  people  debased  to 
the  lowest  depths  of  moral  degradation,  and  forced 


275 

to  labour  at  the  point  of  the  sword — a  country  de 
solate,  and  almost  savage;  its  agriculture  abandoned; 
its  commerce  annihilated — bowed  down  with  debt, 
and  yet  without  resources.  Is  there  anything  in  the 
spectacle  to  encourage  the  wild  hopes  or  mad  designs 
of  the  abolitionist? 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

WE  have  referred,  in  a  former  chapter,  to  the  con 
sequences  of  abolition,  even  if  the  slave-holders  sanc 
tioned  the  scheme;  and  have  shown  that,  with  every 
obstacle  and  opposition  removed,  the  emancipation 
of  the  southern  slaves  cannot  be  effected  without  the 
most  desolating  consequences.  But  we  all  know,  that 
the  opposition  thus  gratuitously  evaded,  will  not  be 
withdrawn,  and  cannot  be  avoided;  and  it  becomes 
proper  that  we  should  consider  the  subject  with  that 
difficulty  involved. 

That  the  South  is  opposed  tc  abolition,  no  one  will 
deny.  She  is  opposed  to  it  from  principle,  feeling, 
and  interest;  and  will  not  only  maintain  her  institu 
tions  at  every  hazard,  but  regard  as  her  enemies,  all 
who  openly  or  insidiously  assail  them. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  that  it  can  be  assailed  by 
the  North,  only  through  their  authorities,  by  their 
legislatures,  or  by  Congress.  Against  such  opposition 
the  South  would  interpose  the  shield  of  her  sove 
reignty,  and  laugh  the  malice  of  her  foes  to  scorn.  The 
more  dangerous,  the  more  practicable  mode  of  oppo 
sition,  is  the  one  chosen  by  the  Abolitionists — indi 
vidual  agitation.  For  this,  wealth  alone  is  re 
quired;  and  that  can  be  furnished  to  any  amount  by 
the  Abolitionists  themselves,  or  by  their  English 
allies  and  coadjutors.  They  do  not  need  numbers, 
influence,  or  power;  the  press  and  the  pulpit  are  en 
gines  of  agitation,  by  which,  without  real  respecta 
bility,  they  can  effect  incalculable  mischief.  They 


277 

£an  thus  render  the  tranquillity,  the  very  existence  of 
the  slave-holders  insecure;  they  can  excite  strong 
and  general  prejudices  at  the  North,  and  hot  and 
angry  resentments  at  the  South.  Can  any  man  be 
ignorant  of  the  inevitable  consequences? 

Mankind  are  strongly  prone  to  blind  themselves 
to  approaching  ills.   We  are  seldom  willing  to  cloud 
the  enjoyment  of  the  present,  with  fears  for  the  fu 
ture;  and  often  would,  like  the  Romans  in  their  de 
generacy,  rather  perish  by  our  fire  sides,  and  in  the 
midst  of  our  festivities,  than  meet  the  enemy  at  the 
borders,  and  defeat  the  threatened  evil,  before  accu 
mulated  conquests  render  it  irresistible.    It  was  from 
this  strange  and  slothful  pusillanimity,  that  the  Per 
sian  continued  his  riot  when  the  Greek  was  within 
his  borders;  that  the  Parisians  revelled  when  the 
allies  were  thundering  at  their  gates;  and  that  the 
Americans  now  affect  a  security  they  do  not  feel,  and 
shrink  from  the  realization  of  the  perils  that  surround 
and  menace  them,  from  the  distracting  and  treason 
able  activity  of  the  Abolitionists.     The  miners  are 
at  work  beneath  the  temple  of  union.     We  know  it: 
we  know  what  the  consequences  must  be;  yet  they 
continue  at  their  labours  unmolested,  unchecked. 
Let  it  not  be  said  that  they  have  been  rebuked,  put 
down  by  public  opinion.     Our  cities  have,  it  is  true, 
been  shaken  by  mobs,  and  the  quiet  of  our  people 
disturbed.      This  is  tvhat  the  Abolitionists  seek. 
But  are  their  steam-presses  stopped?  are  their  huge 
and  various  engines  of  agitation  chained  or  checked? 
Is  the  mischief  restrained?  or  are  they,  on  the  con 
trary,  more  active  and  more  dangerous  than  before? 
If  the  people  of  the  North  wish  them  put  down — if 
they  would  save  the  Union — let  them,  through  their 
legislatures,  denounce  and  punish  the  treason  and 
the  traitors. 

The  consequences  of  continued  agitation  are  appa- 
24 


278 

rent.  It  will  produce,  nay  it  has  already  produced, 
dangerous  party  excitement.  It  has  given,  to  the  po 
litical  discussions  of  the  country,  an  aspect  of  menace 
and  asperity,  which  they  never  before  assumed.  In 
the  North,  it  has  excited  riots  and  disorders  in  all  the 
principal  cities;  and  in  the  South  kindled  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  the  hottest  indignation.  The 
whole  land  is  heaving  with  excitement.  The  laws 
have  been  suspended,  and  revolutionary  remedies 
adopted  in  many  sections  of  the  country,  both  north 
and  south.  Blood  has  already  flowed;  and  should 
the  agitation  be  continued,  the  excitement  thus  kin 
dled,  will  leap  over  every  barrier,  and  overturn  every 
obstacle  in  its  progress. 

Are  the  patriots  of  the  North  willing  to  witness 
these  consequences?  Are  they  willing  to  see  the  po 
pular  rage  which,  in  the  North,  manifested  itself  in 
burning  the  houses  of  the  negroes,  and  even  destroy 
ing  their  lives,  heightened  to  its  utmost  pitch?  It 
need  not  be  supposed,  that  the  South  will  find  no 
champions  in  the  North.  The  earthquake,  when  it 
does  burst,  will  prove  nearly  as  desolating  here  as  in 
the  slave-holding  states.  The  lower  classes  of  our 
people  would  be  found  prepared  to  sacrifice  their 
lives  for  the  Union;  and  once  excited,  where  will 
their  indignation  pause?  Let  the  friends  of  the  co 
loured  man  in  the  North  think  of  this.  Let  the  friends 
of  peace  and  order  ponder  on  it;  for  a  war  between 
the  two  races  could  not  be  confined  to  the  South,  and 
once  commenced,  would  probably  be  prosecuted 
with  all  the  horrible  cruelty  which  marked  the  revo 
lution  in  Hayti. 

But  must  we  think  only  of  ourselves,  in  weighing 
the  consequences  of  emancipation?  Shall  we  bestow 
no  thought  on  our  brethren  and  sisters  of  the  South? 
Must  the  most  horrible  species  of  warfare  desolate 
that  portion  of  our  common  country?  Must  the  brave 


279 

and  the  fair,  the  helpless  and  the  innocent,  our  own 
kindred  too,  be  offered  up  to  glut  the  lust  and  re 
venge  of  the  brutal  negro — and  we  be  indifferent 
spectators  of  the  scene?  The  consequences  of  agi 
tation  at  the  South  are  not  merely  the  rage  of  the 
slave-holder — not  merely  the  terror  and  wretched 
ness  of  the  shrinking  females  thus  exposed  to  the 
most  awful  perils — but  inevitable  insurrection.  It 
is  impossible  that  the  South  can  be  inundated  with 
incendiary  publications,  and  preserve  her  tranquil 
lity.  Already  one  extensive  scheme  of  insurrec 
tion,  thus  fomented,  has  been  discovered  and  pros 
trated.  It  is  not  in  reason  to  suppose,  that  the  same 
exertions,  continued  and  extended,  will  not  produce, 
still  further,  the  same  results.  There  is  but  one  re 
medy — and  that  remedy,  if  forced  to  it,  the  South 
will  assuredly  adopt. 

It  is  impossible  that  this  Union  can  survive  the 
period  when  it  has  ceased  to  be  an  advantage  to  those 
embraced  in  it.  When  the  South  is  constrained  to 
regard  her  northern  sisters  with  distrust  and  terror, 
no  earthly  power  can  long  prevent  her  from  sunder 
ing  the  bond  which  unites  us.  The  Union  must  be 
a  fraternal  and  kindly  one;  and  when  perverted  into 
a  source  of  animosity  and  danger,  it  will  lose  its 
power.  If  the  South  were  a  separate  nation,  she 
could  not  only  guard  her  territory  from  the  machi 
nations  of  the  abolitionists,  but  she  could  demand 
those  who  endangered  her  peace  for  punishment.  If 
then  our  federal  conjunction  is  made  the  engine  of 
an  agitation  which  endangers  the  life  of  every  man, 
woman,  and  child,  in  the  slave-holding  states;  if  her 
worst  foes  stand  behind  the  pillars  of  the  Union  to 
stab  the  South  to  the  heart;  if,  in  short,  it  becomes 
the  source  of  the  most  awful  perils  and  evils  to  the 
people  of  that  section  of  our  country — can  we  doubt 
the  eventual  result?  The  people  of  the  South  are 


280 

men,  with  the  ordinary  passions  of  the  race — and 
dare  we  calculate  on  a  forbearance  which  we  know 
that  we  never  would,  never  could,  exercise  under 
like  circumstances — a  forbearance  which  would  be 
not  merely  weak  but  unwise? 

It  would  be  vain  and  criminal,  on  such  a  subject, 
to  deceive  ourselves  or  others.  Of  abolition,  or  even 
of  a  continued  and  extensive  attempt  to  effect  it,  the 
necessary  and  inevitable  consequence  must  be  a  dis 
solution  of  the  Union.  The  people  of  the  South 
are  protected  from  northern  interference  by  strict 
constitutional,  as  well  as  national,  right.  As  lovers 
of  freedom,  they  would  resist  to  the  uttermost,  and 
with  propriety,  any  effort,  made  even  for  laudable 
purposes,  to  stretch  the  hand  of  northern  interfe 
rence  over  the  prostrate  barriers  of  the  constitution, 
and  modify  the  domestic  institutions  of  the  different 
states.  But  when  this  interference  has  for  its  avow^ed 
object  measures  so  destructive  and  abhorrent — when 
it  would  overthrow  the  organization  of  society,  and 
render  the  social  system  a  convulsed,  jarring,  dark, 
and  bloody  chaos — it  would  be  madness  to  calculate 
on  their  quiescence.  Their  determination  to  sepa 
rate  from  the  Union,  if  the  Union  continues  to  be  a 
source  of  imminent  and  deadly  peril  to  them,  has 
not  been  left  to  remote  innuendo  or  misty  menace. 
It  has  been  avowed,  at  all  times  and  places,  and  in 
the  most  solemn  and  emphatic  manner,  by  the  peo 
ple  of  the  South.  By  the  people  of  the  South,  we 
say ;  for  on  this  subject  there  are  no  parties.  Every 
southron  heart  cherishes  the  same  stern  and  inflexi 
ble  resolution  to  brook,  from  no  power  under  hea 
ven,  an  interference  that  gives  the  throats  of  his 
children  to  the  knife,  and  offers  up  his  taintless  and 
cherished  ones  to  the  lust  of  the  negro.  The  South, 
on  this  point,  is  as  one  man — its  attitude  is  one  of 
self-defence — its  voice  one  of  warning.  If  the  wrong 


281 

be  continued,  it  will  act,  it  must  act,  not  in  revenge, 
not  in  anger,  but  in  the  performance  of  a  holy  duty 
— in  defending  its  firesides  from  murder — its  valleys 
from  desolation.  That  the  South  will  not  submit, 
is  now  beyond  all  question — that  it  ought  not,  we 
ask  no  further  proof  than  the  unbid  promptings  of 
every  correct  bosom.  Would  we,  under  like  cir 
cumstances,  see  a  foreign  and  unconstitutional  inter 
ference  wrench  away  the  restraints  which  check  the 
brutality  of  our  slaves;  offer  up  our  sons  to  their 
ferocity,  our  daughters  to  their  lust — and  see  our 
streams  crimsoned  with  the  hue  of  murder,  and  our 
valleys  startled  with  the  shriek  of  violation?  The 
question  is  answered  by  the  thrill  of  horror  which 
must  shake  every  bosom  at  the  bare  thought  of  a 
consummation  so  fearful  and  revolting.  The  sub 
ject  is  then  narrowed  to  this  point — which  is  to  be 
preferred,  the  preservation  of  the  Union — a  union 
necessary  to  our  national  independence  and  national 
glory — a  union  cemented  by  the  blood,  and  hallowed 
by  the  glory  of  our  fathers — or  the  prosecution  of 
an  unauthorized,  chimerical,  and  most  perilous 
scheme  of  interference  with  the  domestic  concerns 
of  our  sister  states? 

It  is  a  source  of  pain  and  humiliation  to  the  pa 
triot,  that  any  circumstances  should  render  it  neces 
sary  or  proper  to  calculate  the  advantages  of  the 
Union,  or  the  consequences  of  its  dissolution  and 
downfall.  The  time,  however,  has  arrived,  when 
such  an  examination  is  necessary — when  the  atten 
tion  of  the  people  of  our  country  should  be  directed 
to  the  unbounded,  the  incalculable,  blessings  derived 
from  our  happy  union,  and  the  equally  illimitable 
calamities  which  must  flow  from  its  destruction. 

In  the  confederacy  the  non-slave-holding  states 
have  the  preponderancy  of  power.    They  are  there 
fore  in  the  national  councils  the  legislators  of  the 
25* 


282 

Union.  If  there  be  a  perversion  of  power — if  there 
be  oppression,  mal-government,  and  consequent  dis 
content  and  division — it  must  come  from  them. 

The  same  states  have,  in  every  other  particular, 
such  advantages  as  will  always  protect  them  from 
wrong.  They  can,  by  their  votes  and  power,  shield 
themselves  from  danger  or  injury.  If  they  are 
wronged,  they  are  able  legally  to  right  themselves. 
They  will  never,  in  any  civil  contest,  be  the  injured 
party,  while  they  continue,  as  they  ever  must,  to 
possess  a  preponderancy  in  the  Union.  Disunion 
will  never  take  place  unless  occasioned  by  oppres 
sion.  The  South  cannot  oppress  the  North,  because 
it  is  the  feebler  brother.  If  the  Union  be  divided, 
it  will  be  sundered  by  the  wrongs  of  the  powerful 
done  to  the  weak,  either  through  the  national  coun 
cils,  or  by  the  acts  of  individual  citizens  of  the 
stronger  states. 

It  will  be  well,  therefore,  to  consider  the  conse 
quences  of  disunion  to  the  northern  states. 

If  the  union  of  these  states  should  be  severed, 
they  can  never  be  re-united.  They  will  become  at 
once  rivals  and  foes.  When  jealousy  or  aversion 
divides  those  knit  together  by  the  nearest  and 
holiest  ties — that  division  is  eternal.  No  time,  no 
change  can  modify  the  hatred  that  springs  from  it. 
Family  quarrels,  with  nations  as  well  as  individuals, 
are  the  bitterest;  and  all  history  proves  that  neigh 
bouring  communities,  identical  in  origin  and  lan 
guage,  but  clashing  in  feelings  and  interest,  cherish 
an  animosity,  which  no  lapse  of  time,  or  alteration 
of  circumstances,  can  extinguish  or  allay.  Should 
the  North  and  South  be  divided,  the  prejudice,  which 
even  identity  of  interests  and  government  has  not 
suppressed,  would  burst  forth  with  inextinguishable 
force  and  intensity. 

Such  a  separation  would  be  immediately  follow- 


283 

ed  by  a  cessation  of  all  intercourse.  The  protection 
of  the  South,  from  the  incendiary  efforts  of  the 
abolitionists,  would  require  the  adoption  of  this 
policy;  and  mutual  animosity  would  confirm  and 
perpetuate  it.  Treaties  would  be  made  with  foreign 
nations.  The  carrying  trade  of  the  South  would 
be  done  by  the  British,  and  British  manufactures 
would  be  admitted,  to  the  exclusion  of  those  of  the 
North. 

The  consequences  would  be  most  ruinous  to  the 
non  slave-holding  states.  The  prosperity  of  the 
country  depends  upon  its  commerce,  agriculture, 
and  manufactures.  Without  exports,  our  commerce 
could  not  be  maintained.  If  we  had  nothing  to 
sell,  we  would  not  have  the  means  of  buying;  if 
we  had  no  exports,  we  could  have  no  imports;  and 
without  either,  where  would  be  our  commerce? 
Where  the  employment  for  our  shipping?  Where 
the  means  of  subsistence  to  the  millions,  who  in 
directly  depend  upon  it?  The  annual  exports  of  this 
country  amount  to  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars. 
These  exports  bring  us  an  equal  amount  of  im 
ports.  Commerce  is  thus  created;  industry,  in  its 
thousand  different  branches,  employed;  the  revenue 
of  our  country  paid;  and  the  wants  of  our  thirteen 
millions  of  people  abundantly  supplied.  Under  this 
happy  state  of  things,  our  country  has  prospered, 
beyond  the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  the  patriot. 
We  have  become  vigorous  and  opulent.  Our  towns 
have  become  great  cities;  our  forests  have  given 
place  to  towns;  and  the  vast  wilderness,  left  by  our 
fathers,  is  smiling  with  a  happy  and  abundant  popu 
lation.  These  results  have  been  produced  by  the 
South.  The  slave-holding  states  furnish  nine- 
tenths  of  the  whole  exports  of  the  country,  in 
cotton,  tobacco,  rice,  grain,  &c.  This  produce  is 
the  great  fountain  of  our  country's  prosperity.  It 


284 

is  received  by  the  merchants  of  the  North,  and 
shipped  to  Europe;  its  value  in  imports  is  returned, 
and  flows,  in  a  thousand  channels,  back  upon  the 
people.  The  South  gives  employment  to  our  mer 
chants,  our  manufacturers,  our  sailors,  our  store 
keepers,  and  tradesmen.  Let  the  South  be  cut  off, 
and  what  will  be  the  consequences  to  the  North? 
We  will  answer  in  the  language  of  an  able  writer 
on  this  subject — the  editor  of  the  Courier  and  En 
quirer,  of  New  York.  "  Our  exports  and  our 
imports  would  be,  reduced  NINE-TENTHS;  NINE- 
TENTHS  of  our  shipping  would  be  rotting  at  our 
wharves;  NINE-TENTHS  of  our  population  now 
supported  by  commerce  and  the  wealth  it  pro 
duces  and  the  industry  it  diffuses,  would  be 
driven  to  agricultural  pursuits;  the  staple  arti 
cles  of  Northern  Agriculture  command  but  small 
prices  abroad,  and  they  would  find  but  few  cus 
tomers  at  home;  grass  would  grow  in  the  streets 
of  our  cities  and  villages,  and,  a  general  scene 
of  poverty  and  desolation  would  follow  our  pre 
sent  unexampled  prosperity  and  generally  dif 
fused  wealth" 

In  case  of  separation,  the  South  might  raise  up  a 
commerce,  might  create  and  foster  manufactures — 
for  which  her  slave-labour  is  so  well  adapted;  or 
if  she  failed  in  this,  might,  with  profit,  throw  both 
into  the  lap  of  England,  and  iind  her  sources  of 
prosperity  undiminished.  But  the  North  would  be 
unable  to  supply  the  loss  of  the  South.  How 
would  she  find  employment  for  her  ships,  her  arti- 
zans,  her  labourers?  How  could  she  maintain  her 
business  activity,  how  pay  her  debts?  She  could 
not  raise  cotton  or  tobacco,  and  without  the  re 
sources  of  the  South,  would  shrink  into  poverty. 
Her  great  cities  would  be  added  to  Tyre,  Venice, 
and  other  desolate  monuments  of  the  fluctuations 


285 

of  trade;  and  her  impoverished  people  would  im 
precate  the  madness  of  those  who  sundered  the 
holy  tie  that  knit  them  to  the  South. 

But  is  pecuniary  ruin  the  only,  or  the  worst  con 
sequence  of  disunion?  How  is  it  possible  to  tear 
asunder  the  limbs  of  this  confederacy,  without  con 
vulsion  and  bloodshed?  Or,  if  it  be  possible,  how 
long  could  a  good  understanding  be  maintained  be 
tween  people  so  peculiarly  situated,  and  with  so 
many  causes  of  difficulty?  We  cannot  pourtray  the 
thousand  evils,  which  must  flow  from  the  fratrici 
dal  blow  that  dissevers  the  Union.  It  is  enough  to 
know,  that  misery  and  shame  must  follow  it;  that 
poverty  and  want  would  stalk  abroad,  and  violence 
and  crime  dog  their  footsteps;  and  that  civil  war, 
to  fill  the  measure  of  our  country's  wretchedness, 
would  run  riot,  its  tiger  tooth  dripping  with  the 
best  blood  of  our  land. 

"  The  picture  of  the  consequences  of  disunion," 
said  the  illustrious  Madison,  "  cannot  be  too  highly 
coloured,  or  too  often  exhibited.  Every  man  who 
loves  peace,  every  man  who  loves  his  country,  every 
man  who  loves  liberty,  ought  to  have  it  ever  before 
his  eyes,  that  he  may  cherish  in  his  heart  a  due 
attachment  to  the  Union  of  <ftmerica,  and  be.  able 
to  set  a  due  value  on  the  means  of  preserving 
it." 

It  is  painful  to  know,  that  there  are  men,  who  re 
gard  the  prospect  of  disunion,  without  emotion,  and 
who  are  determined  to  urge  their  insane  projects, 
indifferent  what  barriers  are  broken  down,  what 
altars  overthrown,  what  sacrifices  made.  To  them 
the  recollection  of  our  common  war  of  indepen 
dence,  where  the  North  stood  breast  to  breast  with 
the  South,  when  they  poured  out  their  blood,  like 
\vater,  beneath  the  same  proud  flag,  and  in  the  same 
holy  cause — appeals  in  vain.  The  glory  of  the 


286 

past,  the  hopes  of  the  future,  are  nothing  to  them. 
They  are  willing  to  see  the  land  of  Washington— 
the  glory  and  pride  of  the  earth — shattered,  over 
thrown  and  trampled  in  the  dust — her  past  glories 
blotted  out — her  future  hopes  forever  blasted.  To 
such  men  nothing  is  sacred.  They  will  follow  their 
phantom — rending  asunder  the  holiest  ties,  and 
bringing  shame  and  ruin  upon  all  that  should  be 
dear  to  them. 

Yet  they  ask  credit  for  their  motives!  A  word 
on  this  point.  It  is  generally  unsafe  to  judge  men's 
motives  by  any  other  test  than  their  actions.  If  a 
man  places  a  torch  to  a  magazine,  the  explosion  of 
which  must  destroy  a  city,  and.  tells  you,  when  his 
arm  is  arrested,  that  his  motives  are  good — you 
would  decide,  that  the  man  was  either  a  dangerous 
madman,  who  should  be  chained,  or  a  guilty  mis 
creant,  who  would  perpetrate  the  worst  crimes  un 
der  the  holiest  pretences.  Men  never  avow  evil 
motives.  The  vilest  felon  has  recourse  to  this  pal 
try  defence;  and  the  act  which  cannot  borrow  so 
poor  a  gloss,  so  thin  and  common  a  veil,  must  be 
base  and  black  indeed.  Hell  itself,  the  proverb 
tells  us,  is  paved  with  good  intentions.  Until  we 
find  some  more  satisfactory  explanation  of  the 
course  of  the  abolitionists,  we  cannot  see  them  busy 
in  their  work  of  agitation — 

"  While  at  their  feet, 

Leashed  in  like  hounds,  famine,  and  sword,  and  fire, 
Crouch  for  employment," — 

we  cannot  see  them  coolly  promoting  the  horrors 
of  civil  discord,  and  hold  them  guiltless  on  the 
score  of  pure  intentions.  Were  there  room  for 
error,  they  might  plead  the  soundness  of  their 
motives.  But  how  can  they  be  deceived?  They 
have  already  sown  the  wind  and  reaped  the  whirl- 


287 

wind.  Riots  and  violence  in  the  North,  popular 
indignation  and  servile  insurrection  at  the  South — 
are  the  first  and  only  fruits  of  their  efforts.  Can 
they  point  us  to  any  good  they  have  accomplished, 
or  can  reasonably  hope  to  accomplish?  They  can 
not.  They  shut  their  eyes  to  the  manifold  and 
fearful  consequences  of  their  madness,  exclaim, 
"  we  are  doing  our  duty,"  and  rush  on  in  their 
headlong  career.  And  they  will  continue  to  rush 
on  until  arrested  by  legislative  interference;  until 
they  dash  themselves  to  pieces  against  the  rock  of 
our  Union;  or  until  they  have  toppled  that  Union 
into  the  dust,  and  filled  this  happy  country  with 
the  din,  and  guilt,  and  terrors  of  fratricidal  and 
fraternal  warfare. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


British  Agency  in  urging  Abolition — Motives, 
fyc. — Religious  interference — Extent — Nature, 
consequences  of  clerical  influence  in  the  agita 
tion  of  this  question. 

IF  the  scheme  of  emancipation  were  entitled  to 
our  approbation  and  support,  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  urged,  would  be  sufficient  to  excite  just  and 
general  suspicion  and  alarm.  A  political  cause  that 
comes  before  the  people,  sustained  on  the  one  side 
by  English  influence,  and  on  the  other  by  an  aspir 
ing  priesthood — may  well  be  regarded,  by  republi 
cans,  with  distrust  and  terror. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  divine  the  motives  which  in 
duce  Great  Britain  to  encourage  the  incendiary  ef 
forts  of  the  abolitionists.  They  are  the  same,  which 
heretofore,  at  different  periods,  in  our  history, 
prompted  the  same  nation  to  endeavour  to  distract 
and  destroy  our  Union,  and  excite  the  slaves  of  the 
South  against  their  masters.  Like  their  own 
wreckers,  they  are  anxious  to  decoy  our  vessel  upon 
the  rocks,  that  they  may  be  enriched  by  the  spoil 
of  the  wreck.  Our  ruined  commerce  and  manufac 
tures,  would  afford  Great  Britain  a  new  and  bound 
less  source  of  affluence;  while  the  destruction  of  a 
former  foe  and  a  present  rival,  would  be  regarded 
with  feelings  of  malicious  satisfaction.  Many  of 
her  people  also  regard  the  example  of  republicanism 


289 

in  this  country,  as  dangerous  to  the  existing  in 
stitutions  of  Europe,  and  would  rejoice  to  see  the 
fabric  of  our  Union  torn  to  pieces,  and  our  land 
bleeding  and  groaning  beneath  the  parricidal  arms 
of  her  own  infuriated  children. 

Such,  we  have  every  reason  to  believe,  are  the 
motives  that  have  induced  England  to  send  her 
emissaries  into  this  country,  to  aid  the  incendiary 
schemes  of  the  emancipationists,  to  volunteer  and 
contribute  pecuniary  support,  in  forwarding  the 
same  cause;  and  in  short,  to  exercise  every  means 
in  her  power,  to  excite  division  and  insurrection, 
and  consummate  the  infamy  of  our  people,  and  the 
downfall  of  our  country.  It  is  true,  that  she  avows 
only  motives  of  philanthropy.  But  why  is  that 
philanthropy  directed  hither?  Why  does  it  not  turn 
to  their  brethren,  the  oppressed  and  starving  people 
of  Ireland,  whose  condition  is  so  much  worse  than 
that  of  our  slaves?  Why  does  it  overlook  the 
perishing  thousands,  in  the  manufactories  in  Eng 
land?  Why  is  it  not  turned  to  the  almost  countless 
millions  of  slaves  who  groan  beneath  English 
tyrrany  in  India?  Or,  if  their  own  brethren,  or 
their  o\vn  victims  are  beneath  their  notice,  why 
have  not  the  oppressed  of  their  neighbouring  king 
doms  of  Europe — the  serfs  of  Russia  and  Poland, 
the  slaves  of  Turkey,  and  the  down-trodden  of 
other  lands — claimed  their  attention?  England  has 
not,  hitherto,  exhibited  such  peculiar  interest  in  our 
welfare;  and  this  sudden  and  singular  anxiety  can 
not,  under  the  circumstances,  but  excite  suspicion 
and  terror.  It  remains  to  be  seen,  whether  British 
money  will  be  allowed  openly  to  circulate,  in  main 
taining  an  opposition  to  our  Union  and  our  Consti 
tution;  and  whether  English  emissaries  will  be 
permitted  to  go  from  state  to  state,  preaching  trea 
son  against  those  sacred  rights,  which  were  wrested 
25 


290 

from  English  tyranny,  and  established  at  the  price 
of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  American  lives. 

We  have,  heretofore,  referred  to  the  artful  at 
tempts  of  the  abolitionists,  to  make  emancipation  a 
theological  question.  In  this  they  have  succeeded. 
The  question  of  the  abolition  of  slavery,  one  alto 
gether  political  in  its  nature  and  bearings,  has  been 
taken  up  by  a  body  of  clergymen,  and  is  discussed 
and  urged  by  them,  through  the  pulpit  and  the 
press,  as  a  religious  topic.  Their  conventions  have 
been,  for  the  most  part,  constituted  of  clergymen. 
The  officers  of  their  societies,  their  agents,  emissa 
ries,  and  editors  are  also,  generally  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  In  short,  the  movement  originates  in,  and 
is  sustained  and  urged  by,  clerical  influence.  Many 
of  the  religious  papers  of  the  North  have  espoused 
the  cause;  theological  institutions  have  been  per 
verted  to  the  same  end,  and  a  large  portion  of  the 
influence  of  the  northern  clergy  is  actively  engag 
ed  in  the  agitation  of  this  distracting  political 
topic. 

Every  intelligent  citizen  is  aware  of  the  power 
ful  nature  of  the  engine  thus  employed.  When  the 
numbers  of  the  northern  clergy,  or  of  those  engaged 
in  preaching  abolition,  are  computed;  when  their 
moral  influence,  their  resources,  their  union,  their 
perseverance,  and  experience  in  the  control  of  the 
human  heart,  are  contemplated — it  will  be  admitted, 
that  such  a  cause,  so  urged,  may  well  be  a  subject  of 
apprehension. 

The  abolition  clergy  do  not  merely  denounce 
slavery  as  a  sin,  and  advocate  its  abolition  as  a 
Christian  duty — but  refuse  all  fellowship  with  those 
who  hold  slaves,  or  sanction  domestic.slavery.  Not 
only  all  the  laity,  but  all  the  clergy  of  the  South, 
and  a  large  portion  of  those  of  the  North — are  thus 
denounced;  the  tie  of  fellowship  is  sundered;  and 


291 

they  are  held  by  the  abolitionists,  as  man-stealers 
and  murderers.  The  following  extract  is  from  "a 
picture  of  slavery" — a  work  sold  at  the  office  of 
the  Anti-Slavery  Society. 

"  Every  slave-holder  peremptorily  and  without 
delay,  must  be  excommunicated  from  the  Church 
of  God.7' 

"  It  is  of  no  importance,  what  title,  what  office, 
what  station,  or  what  rank,  the  slave-holder  may 
hold,  or  what  apparent  virtues,  or  talents  he  may 
possess  and  develop.  To  all  these  specious  pleas, 
and  to  all  this  anti-christian  whitewashing,  there  is 
a  concise,  significant,  and  irrefutable  reply: — He  fs 
a  man-stealer.  But  as  a  man-stealer  is  the  very 
highest  criminal  in  the  judgment  of  God,  and  of  all 
rational,  uncorrupted  men, he  cannot  be  a  Christian; 
and  therefore  it  is  an  insult  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  head  of  the  Church,  to  record  the  most  notori 
ous  criminal  as  an  acceptable  member  of  the  ( house 
hold  of  faith.'  *  *  There  must  be  a  beginning, 
and  to  the  Christians  of  New  England  especially, 
to  the  descendants  of  the  puritan  pilgrims,  is  re 
served  the  honour  of  commencing  upon  a  large 
arena,  and  of  effectually  carrying  on  the  warfare 
which  shall  expel  man-stealing  from  all  connection 
with  American  Churches.  However  plausible  may 
be  the  pretexts,  and  however  ingenious  and  urgent 
may  be  the  excuses,  they  must  categorically  de 
nounce  the  profession  of  Christianity  in  alliance 
with  slave-holding,  as  pestiferous  hypocrisy.  They 
must  sternly  prohibit  all  slave-driving  preachers 
from  officiating  in  the  sanctuary,  or  leading  in  any 
devotional  exercises." 

"  Thus  the  Northern  and  Eastern  Christians  must 
unsparingly  act.  They  must  eject  every  man-stealer, 
without  exception,  from  <  the  communion  of  Saints,' 
instantly  and  forever." 


292 

We  cannot  pause  to  estimate  the  power  of  this 
combination  of  the  priesthood,  or  the  dangers 
which  are  to  be  apprehended  to  the  liberties  of  the 
country,  from  their  systematic  agitation  of  political 
questions.  Every  one  who  has  opened  the  pages 
which  record  the  history  of  the  past,  must  know 
the  consequences  which  have  ever  flowed  from  the 
political  policy  of  the  priesthood.  He  must  know 
that  the  most  sanguinary  and  dreadful  of  those  in 
numerable  wars,  which  have,  in  different  ages  deso 
lated  the  earth,  have  been  kindled  by  the  breath  of 
fanaticism;  and  that  even  the  religion  of  peace,  has 
been  perverted,  by  the  ambition  or  bigotry  of 
priests,  into  the  cause  of  the  slaughter  of  millions. 
Religious  interference  has,  in  all  cases,  been  attend 
ed  with  violence;  religious  domination,  in  all  cases, 
followed  by  political  despotism,  popular  degrada 
tion,  and  national  decay.  So  effective  an  agent  is 
fanaticism,  in  the  agitation  or  control  of  the  popular 
mind,  that  the  mask  of  religious  fervour  has  been 
frequently  worn  to  cover  the  dark  and  blood-spot 
ted  brow  of  guilty  ambition,  of  deep  and  insatiate 
love  of  power.  It  would  have  been  strange,  had 
the  abolitionists  overlooked  such  an  engine — such  a 
mask.  It  is  a  weapon  peculiarly  appropriate  for 
their  cause.  It  accords  admirably  with  the  sleek 
dissimulation,  the  canting  affectation  of  superior 
excellence,  and  the  reckless  disregard  of  the  lives 
and  happiness  of  others,  which  characterize  that 
faction.  The  subject  of  abolition  is,  therefore, 
argued  wholly  on  religious  grounds.  The  Consti 
tution  is  arrayed  against  the  Bible;  and  the  South 
is  denounced  as  a  moral  "  Sodom."  Whatever  sub 
ject  may  be  discussed,  their  arguments  are  still 
directed  to  the  fanatical;  even  declamation  assumes 
the  whining  tone  of  cant;  and  all  their  efforts  be 
tray  the  same  determination  to  urge  abolition,  not 


293 

as  a  grand  political  question,  to  be  argued  on  political 
grounds,  but  as  a  theological  point,  to  be  discussed 
with  nasal  intonation  and  hypocritical  slang,  and  to 
be  decided  by  a  faction  of  presumptuous  priests,  and 
the  old  women,  male  and  female,  whose  political 
opinions  and  feelings  are  in  their  holy  keeping. 

This  fanaticism  is  equally  dangerous,  whether 
affected  or  sincere,  but  not  equally  revolting.  That 
it  is,  with  the  leaders  at  least,  counterfeit,  is  demon 
strated  by  the  fact  that,  among  the  most  vociferous 
of  the  preachers  of  abolition,  are  men,  whose  lives 
constitute  but  a  halting  commentary  on  their  doc 
trines.  How  heartless  must  be  the  impiety  of  the 
man,  who  can  use  the  gospel  of  peace  to  forward  a 
plot  that  must  move,  if  at  all,  axle  deep  in  blood! 

"  No  sound/'  says  the  immortal  Burke,  "  should 
be  heard  in  the  church  but  the  healing  voice  of 
Christian  charity.  Those  who  quit  their  proper 
character,  to  assume  what  does  not  belong  to  tbem, 
are  for  the  most  part  ignorant  of  the  character 
they  assume,  and  of  the  character  they  leave  off. 
Wholly  unacquainted  with  the  world  in  which 
they  are  so  fond  of  meddling •,  and  inexperienced 
in  all  its  affairs^  on  which  they  pronounce  with 
so  much  confidence,  they  have  nothing  of  politics 
but  the  PASSIONS  they  excite.  Surely  the  church  is 
a  place,  where  one  day's  truce  ought  to  be  allowed 
to  the  dissensions  and  animosities  of  mankind." 

The  men  who  renounce  all  Christian  fellowship 
with  one  half  of  the  members  of  the  American 
Church,  for  maintaining,  as  Christ  himself  did,  the 
existing  institutions  of  the  country,  can  scarcely 
expect  that  their  course  of  treason,  incendiarism 
and  violence,  will  be  regarded  in  a  more  charitable 
spirit.  But  we  are  willing,  even  by  a  violation  of 
probability,  to  suppose-  that,  at  least  some  of  these 
bigots  have  really  at  heart  the  advancement  of  the 
25* 


294 

cause  of  religion;  and  will  ask  them,  if  they  can 
deceive  themselves  into  a  belief  that  the  course 
which  they  have  adopted,  is  calculated  to  promote 
that  cause.  Do  they  not  know  that  it  must  divide 
the  Christian  church  into  two  bodies,  those  approv 
ing,  and  those  opposing,  the  legal  institutions  of  the 
South;  that  these  parties  must  regard  each  other 
with  feelings  of  no  Christian  character;  and  that 
the  house,  thus  divided  against  itself,  is  in  danger  of 
falling?  Are  they  not  aware,  that  by  thus  interfer 
ing  with  the  politics  of  the  country,  they  not  only 
expose  themselves  to  dangerous  political  errors 
from  their  ignorance  and  inexperience,  but  that 
they  are  exciting  against  themselves  and  against  the 
clergy  in  general,  a  wide-spread  and  popular  feel 
ing  of  distrust,  suspicion,  prejudice,  and  aversion? 
Do  they  not  know  that  they,  by  their  present 
course,  assume  the  awful  responsibility  of  endan 
gering  the  cause  of  religion  itself;  of  exciting  even 
against  its  holy  and  beneficent  influence,  that  preju 
dice  which  is  and  must  be  attached  to  an  intermed 
dling,  ambitious,  and  selfish  priesthood,  whatever 
political  course  they  may  pursue;  and  which,  when 
that  course  endangers  the  rights  of  the  people,  and 
the  honour  and  union  of  the  country,  cannot  but  be 
intense  and  general?  How  can  they  answer  these 
questions  to  themselves?  How  can  they  answer  them 
to  the  great  Master,  whose  holy  name  they  have  thus 
abused — whose  holy  cause  they  have  thus  betrayed 
and  injured?  The  prudent,  the  pious  will  shrink 
and  tremble,  before  they  incur  a  responsibility  so 
fearful.  They  will  hesitate  before  they  throw  by 
the  shepherd's  crook,  to  grasp  the  weapon  which 
must  be  reddened  in  the  blood  of  our  brethren;  and 
ponder  deeply  and  solemnly,  before  they  sanction 
those  who  thus  dangerously  pervert  the  religion  of 
Him  who  came  into  the  world  "  not  to  destroy,  but 
to  fulfil." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


Ability  of  the  South  to  hold  its  Slaves — Increase 
of  Slaves — Slaves  contented — Impossibility  of 
successful  insurrection — Security  of  the  South, 
8?c.  fyc. 

IN  extenuation  of  their  lawless  encroachments  on 
the  rights  of  the  South,  the  abolitionists  plead  the 
great  dangers  which  must  arise  from  the  existence 
of  slavery.     This  danger,  if  it  exists  at  all,  menaces 
only  the  inhabitants  of  the  South.     Now  they  are 
neither  destitute  of  mental  nor  physical  resources 
to  foresee  or  meet  the  alleged  danger.     They  are 
fully  capable  of  the  task  of  caring  for  themselves; 
and  the  thankless  interference  of  the  abolitionists  is 
equally  ill-timed,  pragmatical,  and  unnecessary.  The 
South  wants  no  protection,  and,  least  of  all,  the  pro 
tection  of  the  abolitionists.      Their  charity  is  alto 
gether  obtrusive;  and  it  would  be  well  if,  in  their 
discursive  and  knight-errant  benevolence,  they  would 
seek  other  subjects  for  the  exercise  of  their  virtues. 
These  raven  counsellors  calculate  the  increase  of 
the  slaves,  and  come  to  the  conclusion  that  they  are 
gaining  gradually  upon  the  whites;  that  their  power 
will  be  thus  regularly  increased,  until  at  length,  in 
future  times,  they  may  outnumber  the  whites,  and 
fall  upon  and  massacre  them.     They,  therefore,  ap 
pear  to  think  that  it  is  more  prudent  that  the  slaves 
should  be  excited  to  this  massacre  at  once;  that  the 
"  question  should  be  met/'  and  that  the  throats  des- 


296 

lined  to  be  cut  should  be  operated  upon  without  any 
unnecessary  delay. 

These  views  are,  at  least,  in  character  with  the 
abolitionists.  But  we  would  suggest  to  them  the 
propriety  of  allowing  posterity  to  take  care  of  itself. 
We  have  quite  as  much  on  our  hands  as  we  can 
manage  properly;  and  as  posterity  will  be,  in  all 
probability,  quite  as  wise  and  capable  as  we  are,  it 
may  be  well  to  direct  our  time  and  attention  to  the 
care  of  those  more  immediately  within  the  scope  of 
our  sympathies  and  duty. 

Cool-headed  and  reflecting  men  cannot  but  regard 
the  ill-omened  predictions  of  the  abolitionists,  on 
this  head,  with  scorn.  Slavery  has  existed  thus  far 
without  any  of  the  unfavourable  results  which  ter 
rify  these  nervous  patriots.  Every  age  has  had  its 
croakers,  men  who  see  visions,  and  dream  dreams; 
who  foresee  for  futurity  evils  and  calamities  which 
futurity  never  realizes,  and  which  only  serve  to  ex 
cite  the  imaginations  of  those  who  can  be  terrified 
by  the  phantoms  thus  idly  conjured  up.  We  have 
no  right  to  expect  an  exemption  from  these  prophets 
of  evil.  Their  raven  voices  will  be  heard  even  un 
der  the  brightest  sky;  and,  though  time  may  venture 
to  belie  their  predictions,  nothing  will  quiet  their 
croaking.  It  may  be  well,  however,  to  examine  the 
basis  of  their  apprehensions. 

In  answer  to  the  oft-repeated  objection,  that  the 
increase  of  the  slaves  of  this  country  is  proportion 
ally  greater  than  that  of  the  whites,  we  venture  to 
oppose  a  direct  denial  of  the  statement.  The  follow 
ing  extract  from  Mr.  Walsh  will  correct  all  errors 
on  this  point.  "Our  census  of  1810  teaches  that, 
according  to  the  ratio  of  increase  for  the  twenty 
years  preceding,  the  number  of  years  required  for 
the  duplication  of  the  whites  was  22.48;  and  that  re 
quired  for  the  slaves,  as  I  have  mentioned,  25.99. 


297 

The  whites  increased  from  1790  to  1810,  85.26  per 
cent;  the  slaves  70.75.  The  mere  natural  increase 
is  not,  however,  shown  exactly  by  this  calculation. 
We  should  deduct  the  annual  addition  made  to  the 
numbers  of  both  from  without,  which  would  proba 
bly  leave  the  proportion  the  same.  The  whole  num 
ber  of  slaves  in  1810  was  1,191,364;  and  of  free 
people  of  colour,  186,466.  Together  they  did  not 
equal  one  fourth  of  the  w'hite  population,  which  was 
5,862,092;  nor  make  but  little  more  than  one  sixth 
of  the  whole.  At  present,  (1819,)  the  proportion 
must  be  still  less,  as  the  ratio  of  increase  for  the 
white  population  is  undoubtedly  greater."  The 
views  of  Mr.  Walsh  have  been  confirmed  by  subse 
quent  experience;  and  the  fears  of  those  who  dwell, 
with  trembling  emphasis,  upon  the  increase  of  the 
slaves,  demonstrated  to  be  groundless  and  idle.* 

*  "  We  have  no  fears  on  this  score;  even  if  it  were  true, 
the  danger  would  not  be  very  great.  With  the  increase  of 
the  blacks,  we  can  afford  to  enlarge  the  police;  and  we  will 
venture  to  say,  that  with  the  hundredth  man  at  cur  disposal, 
and  faithful  to  us,  we  would  keep  down  insurrection  in  any 
large  country  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  But  the  speakers  in 
the  Virginia  legislature,  in  our  humble  opinion,  made  most 
unwarrantable  inferences  from  the  census  returns.  They  took 
a  period  between  1790  and  1830,  arid  judged  exclusively  from 
the  aggregate  results  of  that  whole  time.  Mr.  Brown  pointed 
out  their  fallacy,  mid  showed  that  there  was  but  a  small  por 
tion  of  the  period  in  which  the  blacks  had  rapidly  gained 
on  the  whites  (in  Virginia,)  but  during  the  residue  they 
were  most  rapidly  losing  their  high  relative  increase,  and 
would,  perhaps  in  1840,  exhibit  an  augmentation  less  than 
the  whites.  But  let  us  go  a  little  back.  In  1740,  the  slaves 
in  South  Carolina,  says  Marshall,  were  three  times  the  whites: 
the  danger  from  them  was  greater  then  than  it  ever  has  been 
since,  or  ever  will  be  again.  There  was  an  insurrection  in 
that  year,  which  was  put  down  with  the  utmost  ease,  although 
instigated  and  aided  by  the  Spaniards.  The  slaves  in  Vir 
ginia,  at  the  same  period,  were  much  more  numerous  than 
the  whites.  Now  suppose  some  of  those  peepers  into  futu- 


298 

The  progressive  increase  of  the  two  races  has 
been  referred  to  as  a  source  of  danger.  If  the  whites 
increase,  the  blacks  also  multiply,  and  will  in  time, 
it  is  urged,  constitute  so  large  a  mass,  that  it  will  be 
impossible  to  hold  them  in  subjection.  The  facts 
do  not  bear  out  the  theory.  A  million  can  more 
easily  hold  a  million  in  subjection,  than  a  thousand 
can  a  thousand.  The  reason  is  obvious — concert 
and  union  are  required  to  overturn  an  established 
government;  and  the  greater  the  number,  the  more 
difficult  is  this  of  attainment.  In  a  community  of 
one  hundred,  a  police  of  one  man  would  be  wholly 
incapable  of  controlling  the  ninety-nine;  but  in  a 
community  of  one  million,  a  band  of  ten  thousand 
troops  would  be  found  amply  sufficient  for  that  pur 
pose. 

No  one,  who  has  examined  this  subject  dispas 
sionately,  can  entertain  any  serious  doubts  of  the 
ability  of  the  whites  of  the  South  to  hold  their 
slaves  in  subjection.  There  has  been  no  instance 
of  a  successful  insurrection  of  negro  slaves.  Even 
at  St.  Domingo,  the  revolt  commenced  with  the  free 
mulattoes,  who  had  been  educated  and  disciplined 
in  France;  who  were  nearly  equal  in  number  to  the 
whites;  and  who  were  encouraged  by  the  French  go 
vernment;  and,  notwithstanding  all  this,  it  would 

rity  could  have  been  present;  would  they  not  have  predicted 
the  speedy  arrival  of  the  time  when  the  hlacks,  running 
ahead  of  the  whites  in  numbers,  would  have  destroyed  their 
security!  In  1763,  the  black  population  of  Virginia  was 
100,000,  and  the  white  70,000.  In  South  Carolina  the  blacks 
were  90,000,  and  the  whites  40,000.  Comparing  them  with 
the  returns  of  1740,  our  prophets,  could  they  have  lived  so 
long,  might  have  found  some  consolation  in  the  greater  in 
crease  of  the  whites.  Again,  when  we  see  in  1830,  that  the 
blacks  in  both  states  have  fallen  in  numbers  below  the  whites, 
our  prophets,  were  they  alive,  might  truly  be  pronounced 
false." — Professor  Dew. 


299 

never  have  succeeded  had  not  the  island  been  in  a  state 
of  revolution,  and  distracted  by  a  civil  contest.  In 
Jamaica,  where  the  blacks  are  eight-fold  the  whites, 
and  in  Brazil,  where  they  are  three  to  one,  they 
have  been  controlled  and  held  in  bondage  without 
difficulty.  In  this  country,  the  slave  population,  in 
ferior  in  numbers  and  milder  in  temper,  has  never 
given  any  trouble;  and  never  will,  unless  poisoned 
and  maddened  by  foreign  abolitionists. 

The  security  of  the  whites  may  be  ascribed  to 
several  causes.     Among  the  first,  is  the  moral  supe 
riority  of  the  master  over  the  slave.     This  supe 
riority  consists  in  a  greater  natural  elevation  of  cha 
racter,  in  the  feelings  which  arise  from  a  habit  of 
command,  and  in  the  firmness  and  courage  which 
are  produced  by  freedom.     The  slave,  besotted,  ser 
vile,  accustomed  to  degradation,  and  habituated  to 
regard  his  master  with  deference  and  awe,  does  not 
presume  to   dream  of  contending  with  him.     His 
genius  stands  rebuked  before  that  of  the  white  man. 
He  has  neither  the  aspirations,  the  spirit,  nor  the 
ability,  which  would  urge  him  into  determined  oppo 
sition  to  his  master.     A  late  writer,  the  author  of 
"The  South-West,  by  a  Yankee,"  alleges,  that  the 
South  has  little  to  apprehend  from  her  slave  popu 
lation;  and  asserts  that  "the  negro  is  wholly  desti 
tute  of  courage.     He  possesses  an  animal  instinct, 
which  impels  him,  when  roused,  to  the  performance 
of  the  most  savage  acts.     He  is  a  being  of  impulse, 
and  cowardice  is  a  principle  of  his  soul,  as  instinc 
tive  as  courage  in  the  white  man.  This  may  be  caused 
by  their  condition,  and  without  doubt  it  is.     But, 
whatever  may  be  the  cause,  the  effect  exists,  and 
will  ever  preclude  any  apprehensions  of  serious  evil 
from  any  insurrectionary  combination  of  their  num 
ber.      The  spirit  of  insubordination  will  die  as  soon 
as  the  momentary  excitement  which  produced  it  has 


300 

subsided;  and  negroes  never  can  accomplish  anything 
of  a  tragic  nature,  unless  under  the  influence  of  extra 
ordinary  temporary  excitement.  The  negro  has  a 
habitual  fear  of  the  white  man,  which  has  become 
a  second  nature;  and  this,  combined  with  the  fear 
less  contempt  of  the  white  man  for  him,  in  his  bel 
ligerent  attitude,  will  operate  to  prevent  any  very 
serious  evil  resulting  from  their  plans.  A  northerner 
looks  upon  a  band  of  negroes,  as  upon  so  many  men', 
but  the  planter,  or  southerner,  views  them  in  a  very 
different  light;  and,  armed  only  with  a  hunting  whip 
or  walking  cane,  he  will  fearlessly  throw  himself 
among  a  score  of  them,  armed  as  they  may  be,  and 
they  will  instantly  flee  with  terror/'  This  supe 
riority  of  the  white  man,  and  the  deference  and  de 
pendence  of  the  slaves,  preclude  even  the  disposition 
to  insurrection.  It  renders  the  domination  of  the 
master  sovereign  and  complete,  and  prevents  the 
first  movements  of  rebellion;  or  enables  him  to 
crush  it  without  difficulty  at  any  subsequent  stage. 

But  it  is  not  merely  the  superiority  of  the  master 
in  his  towering,  fearless,  and  commanding  spirit, 
which  oversways  the  negro;  the  intelligence  and 
skill  of  the  whites  render  that  superiority  still 
greater.  The  white  man  has  all  the  advantages  of 
science;  he  possesses,  in  superior  intelligence,  the 
means  not  only  of  protecting  himself,  but  of  con 
trolling  his  slaves.  The  negro  regards  him  not 
only  as  his  protector,  and  the  provider  of  his  daily 
bread,  but  as  the  possessor  of  the  mysterious  and 
awful  power  conferred  by  education.  He  regards 
his  superiority  with  deference,  and  well  he  may; 
for  the  ignorance  and  simplicity  of  the  negro,  op 
posed  to  the  sagacity  and  intelligence  of  the  white 
man,  would  have  but  little  chance  of  success. 
Should  the  negroes,  by  accident,  attain  a  partial  ad 
vantage  and  be  enabled  to  oppose  the  whites,  their 


301 

ignorance,  want  of  discipline,  and  confidence  would 
make  them  an  easy  prey  to  the  discipline  and  skill 
of  their  masters. 

The  blacks  from  their  position  can  never  effect 
organization.  The  police  of  the  South  effectually 
prevents  it;  and  even  should  that  police  be  relaxed, 
or  withdrawn,  the  ignorance  and  stupidity  of  the 
blacks  would  preclude  the  possibility  of  extensive 
and  effective  combination.  Even  in  case  of  suc 
cessful  insurrection,  the  ignorant  and  savage  mob 
collected  together,  could  never  be  formed  into  a 
regular  or  united  mass.  The  whites,  on  the  con 
trary,  have  all  the  advantages  afforded  by  an 
effective  code  noir,  carefully  administered,  of 
vigorous  organization  by  government,  and  of  every 
thing  necessary  to  secure  prompt  and  irresistible 
combination  and  exertion  of  the  organized  energies 
of  the  white  population. 

The  blacks,  it  must  also  be  remembered,  would 
be,  in  case  of  insurrection,  without  any  of  the  re 
sources  necessary  for  effectual  resistance.  Destitute 
of  arms  and  ammunition,  probably  without  food, 
and  certainly  without  discipline — they  might  deso 
late  a  hamlet,  but  could  never  endanger  a  state. 

It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  the  character,  con 
dition,  and  resources  of  the  two  races  in  the  Sotith, 
and  believe  that  any  serious  difficulty  can  arise 
from  the  slaves.  The  superiority  of  the  whites 
in  all  that  constitutes  power,  the  effective  police 
adopted,  and  the  character  and  position  of  the 
slaves,  render  it  morally  impossible,  that  the  safety 
and  tranquillity  of  the  South  can  be  disturbed  by 
negro  insurrection. 

But  were  the  resources  of  the  blacks  adequate  to 

successful    insurrection,   they    would    not,    unless 

tainted  by  the  incendiaries,  desire  a  change  in  their 

condition;  they   could  not  be  persuaded    to   raise 

26 


302 

their  hands  against  their  masters.  The  following 
remarks  of  Mr.  Dew,  on  this  subject,  deserve  atten 
tion.  "  It  seems  to  us  that  those  who  insist  upon 
it,  commit  the  enormous  error  of  looking  upon 
every  slave  in  the  slave-holding  country,  as  actuated 
by  the  most  deadly  enmity  to  the  whites,  and  pos 
sessing  all  that  reckless,  fiendish  temper,  which 
would  lead  him  to  murder,  and  assassinate,  the  mo 
ment  the  opportunity  occurs.  This  is  far  from  be 
ing  true.  The  slave,  as  we  have  already  said,  gene 
rally  loves  the  master  and  his  family :  aye,  and  few 
indeed  there  are,  who  can  coldly  plot  the  murder 
of  men,  women,  and  children;  and  if  they  do, 
there  are  fewer  still  who  can  have  the  villany  to 
execute.  We  can  sit  down  and  imagine,  that  all  the 
negroes  in  the  South  have  conspired  to  rise  on  a 
certain  night,  and  murder  all  the  whites  in  their 
respective  families;  we  may  suppose  the  secret  to 
be  kept,  and  that  they  have  the  physical  power  to  ex 
terminate;  and  yet,  we  say,  the  whole  is  morally  im 
possible.  No  insurrection  of  this  kind,  has  occurred 
where  the  blacks  are  as  much  civilized  as  they  are  in 
the  United  States.  Savages  and  Koromantyn  slaves 
can  cemmit  such  deeds,  because  their  whole  life  and 
education  have  prepared  them;  and  they  glory  in 
the  achievment;  but  the  negro  of  the  United  States 
has  imbibed  the  principles,  the  sentiments,  and  the 
feelings  of  the  white;  in  one  word,  he  is  civilized — 
at  least,  comparatively;  his  whole  education,  and 
course  of  life,  are  at  war  with  such  fell  deeds.  No 
thing,  then,  but  the  most  subtle  and  poisonous  prin 
ciples,  sedulously  infused  into  his  mind,  can  break 
his  allegiance,  and  transform  him  into  the  midnight 
murderer.  Any  man  who  will  attend  to  the  his 
tory  of  the  Southampton  massacre,  must  at  once 
see,  that  the  cause  of  even  the  partial  success  of 
the  insurrectionists,  was  the  very  circumstance  that 


303 

there  was  no  extensive  plot,  and  that  Nat,  a  dement 
ed  fanatic,  was  under  the  impression  that  heaven 
had  enjoined  him  to  liberate  the  blacks,  and  had 
made  its  manifestations  by  loud  noises  in  the  air,  an 
eclipse,  and  by  the  greenness  of  the  sun.  It  was 
these  signs  which  determined  him,  and  ignorance 
and  superstition,  together  with  implicit  confidence 
in  Nat,  determined  a  few  others;  and  thus  the 
bloody  work  began.  So  fearfully  and  reluctantly 
did  they  proceed  to  the  execution,  that  we  have  no 
doubt  that  if  Travis,  the  first  attacked,  could  have 
waked  whilst  they  were  getting  into  his  house,  or 
could  have  shot  clown  Nat  or  Will,  the  rest  would 
have  fled,  and  the  affair  would  have  terminated  in 


*  So  far  are  the  negroes  from  cherishing  any  desire  to  ef 
fect  their  freedom  by  force,  that  the  virtuous  among  them 
regard  it  as  disgraceful  to  run  away.  The  following  anec 
dotes  from  "The  South-  West,  by  a  Yankee,"  illustrate  this 
feeling. 

"I  was  sitting,  not  long  since,  in  the  portico  of  a  house  in 
the  country,  engaged  in  conversation,  when  an  old  negro 
entered  the  front  gate,  leading  by  the  arm  a  negro  boy,  about 
sixteen  years  of  age.  "  Ah  !"  said  the  gentleman  with  whom 
I  was  talking,  "There  is  my  runaway  !"  The  old  man  ap 
proached  the  steps,  which  led  to  the  portico,  and  removing 
his  hat,  as  usual  with  slaves  on  addressing  a  white  person, 
said,  "  Master,  I  done  bring  John  home.  I  cotch  him 
skulkin'  'bout  in  Natchey  ;  1  wish  master  sell  him,  where 
ol'  nigger  nebber  see  him  more,  if  he  run  away  'gain  ;  he 
disgrace  he  family  :  his  ol'  mammy  cry  'nough  'bout  it  when 
she  hearn  it."  This  couple  were  father  and  son.  A  "  good 
negro"  in  the  usual  acceptation  of  the  term,  feels  that  there 
is  a  kind  of  disgrace  attached  to  himself  and  family,  if  any 
one  of  them  becomes  a  runaway.  A  negro  lad,  who  had 
absconded  for  a  few  days'  play,  was  apprehended,  and  led  by 
his  overseer,  through  the  streets  on  his  way  home,  not  long 
ago,  when  an  old  negro  washwoman  standing  by,  exclaimed, 
seeing  him,  "  La,  me  !  who  link  he  'gin  so  young  to  act 
bad."  I  will  relate  an  instance  of  their  readiness  to  ar- 


304 

The  following  extract  from  the  speech  of  Dr. 
Burden,  speaker  of  the  Pennsylvania  Senate,  in  the 
debate  on  the  Tariff,  in  January,  1833,  gives  the 
same  view  of  the  slave  population  of  the  South. 

66  The  feelings  of  the  Southern  slave  towards  his 
master  are  but  little  understood  in  the  North.  Born 
and  brought  up  in  a  family,  he  has  no  affections  be 
yond  it.  He  eats  his  master's  food  and  is  his  mas 
ter's  friend;  in  sickness  or  decrepitude  he  is  sus 
tained  and  comforted;  and  when  his  days  are 
drawing  to  a  close,  he  finds  in  his  master  a  friend 
and  protector,  without  resorting  to  the  tender  mer 
cies  of  an  alms-house.  Slavery  is  abhorrent  to 
us  all;  yet  in  the  fearful  event  of  a  civil  war,  the 
slave  of  South  Carolina  would  be  trusted  with 
arms,  and  found,  as  on  a  former  occasion,  by 
the  side  of  his  master." 

It  is  true,  that  the  people  of  the  North  are  unable 
to  conceive  the  feeling  which  subsists  between  the 
master  and  the  slave,  the  protector  and  the  protect 
ed.  The  negro  is  a  child  in  his  nature,  and  the 
white  man  is  to  him  as  a  father.  The  slave,  it  is 
true,  regards  him  with  awe,  but  that  awe  is  mingled 
with  affection.  He  shares  in  his  master's  pride, 
partakes  in  his  prosperity,  and  feels,  with  sensibility, 
his  reverses,  his  sufferings,  or  his  death.  The  work 
already  quoted  gives  the  following  account  of  a 
slave-holder's  funeral. 

rest  each  other.  "  Missus,  deres  a  runaway  back  de  gar 
den,"  said  hastily  a  young  negress,  as  a  party  were  sitting 
down  to  the  tea  table  of  a  lady  at  whose  house  I  was  visit 
ing.  "Let  me  go  catch  him."  "  Let  me  go  missus,"  said 
the  waiters,  and  they  could  hardly  be  kept  in  the  hall.  Per 
mission  was  given  to  one  to  go,  who  in  a  few  minutes  re 
turned,  leading  up  to  the  hall-door,  a  stout  half-naked  negro, 
whom  he  had  caught  prowling  about  the  premises.  "  Here 
de  nigger,  missus,"  said  he  exultingly,  as  though  he  him 
self  belonged  to  another  race  and  colour." 


305 

"An  irregular  procession,  or  rather  crowd  of 
slaves  in  the  rear  of  all,  followed,  with  sorrowful 
countenances,  the  remains  of  their  master,  to  his 
last,  long  home.  When  the  heavy  clods  rattled 
upon  the  hollow  sounding  coffin,  these  poor 
wretches,  who  had  anxiously  crowded  around  the 
grave,  burst  into  one  simultaneous  flood  of  tears, 
mingled  with  expressions  of  regret,  sorrow,  and  af 
fection.  A  group  of  slaves  lamenting  over  the 
grave  of  their  master!"  The  author  of  the  work 
quoted  says,  "I  am  myself  in  favour  of  emancipa 
tion;"  the  fidelity  of  the  statement  cannot  there 
fore  be  doubted.  Can  any  one  possessed  of  reason, 
suppose  that  the  masters,  thus  beloved  while  living, 
and  regretted  when  dead,  by  their  slaves,  are  in 
danger  from  those  slaves?  If  the  slaves  had  all  the 
power,  they  have  not  the  disposition,  to  unsheath 
the  knife  against  the  breasts  of  -their  masters.  That 
disposition  is  cherished  only  in  the  bosoms  of  the 
religious  philanthropists  of  the  North ! 

But,  it  will  be  asked,  what  will  become  of  the 
South,  snould  the  abolitionists  succeed  in  poisoning 
the  minds  of  the  slaves  against  their  masters,  and 
should  the  efforts  of  the  negroes  against  the  whites 
be  aided  by  foreign  powers?  If  such  events  were 
possible,  the  results  would  be  what  we  have,  in  a 
former  chapter  described:  but  such  a  state  of  things 
is  not  possible.  It  is  not  possible,  that  the  South 
will  be  so  inert,  so  tame,  so  insensible  to  the  dan 
gers  of  her  situation,  as  to  allow  the  abolitionists  of 
the  North  to  tamper  with  her  slaves.  She  WILL 
prevent  it,  at  whatever  sacrifice;  and  those  who  think 
otherwise  deceive  themselves.  The  slaves  will  re 
main  what  they  now  are;  and  should  the  South  be 
assailed  by  a  foreign  power,  her  slaves  will  be  her 
safety,  her  defence.  As  a  labouring  population, 
they  would  furnish  the  supplies  necessary  for  such  a 
26* 


306 

contest;  as  a  portion  of  the  wealth  of  the  land  they, 
would  constitute  "  the  sinews  of  war" — or  should 
men  be  wanted,  they  would  fight  by  the  side  of 
their  masters.     But  all  these  speculations  are  idle 
and  ill-omened.     What  nation  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  bearing  a  Christian  name,  and  ranking  among 
civilized  communities,  would  thus  assail  the  South? 
What  nation  would  thus  violate  every  law  by  which 
the  civilized  world  is  ruled,  outrage  every  feeling 
of  humanity,  and  seek  to  bring  upon  both  races  at 
the    South,   wanton   and    sanguinary    destruction, 
wi-thout  interest,  or  motive?    Would  the  states  of 
the  North  adopt  so  inhuman  and  savage  a  policy? 
Would  the  nations  of  Europe?    The  supposition  is 
gratuitous  and  far  beyond  the  limit  of  possibility. 
It  would  be  a  singular  instance  of  national  weak 
ness  and  folly,  if  the  predictions  of  the  abolitionists 
should  succeed  in  frightening  the  people  of  this 
country,  into  a  support  of  their  views.     Such  ap 
peals  constitute  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  effective 
arts  of  political  quacks.     Nations  have  been  appal 
led  by  an  eclipse;   and  empires  shaken  by  an  astro 
nomical  prediction.      We  are  told  that   the  solar 
system   contains  in  itself  the  laws  of  its  eventual 
destruction;  that  the  planets  are  gradually   drawn 
to  the  centre,  and   must  at  last  shoot  from   their 
spheres  to   the  sun,  and  make  one  massive  central 
ruin  of  the  system,  which  now  moves  in  brightness 
and  beauty  around  us.     The  dangers  foretold  by  the 
abolitionists  are  of  a  similar  character — equally  ter 
rible — and  equally  remote.     He  who  can  be  shaken 
by  such  predictions  is  unfit  to  deliberate  on  the  con 
cerns  of  a  rational  people. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


Course  of  the  South  vindicated — Duty  of  Con 
gress — Post  Office — Duty  of  Northern  States 
— Freedom  of  the  Press — Conclusion. 

WE  have  shown,  it  is  hoped  satisfactorily,  that 
the  fears  entertained  of  the  safety  of  the  South  are 
groundless;  that  the  slaves  have  neither  the  disposi 
tion  nor  the  power  to  rise  against  their  masters;  and 
that,  neither  now  nor  hereafter,  are  they  likely  to 
become  a  source  of  danger,  or  well  founded  appre 
hension. 

The  only  danger  which  is  to  be  apprehended,  is 
from  the  agitation  of  this  subject  by  the  people  of 
the  North.     The  abolitionists  may  create  danger  to 
the  slave  and  the  master,  to  the  North  and  the  South. 
We  have  already  shown  that  the  paucity  of  their 
numbers,  were  they  few,  or  their  want  of  power, 
were  they  weak,  does  not  prevent  them  from  being 
extensively    mischievous.     Hitherto,    it   is    hoped, 
their  efforts  among  the  slaves  have  been  attended 
with  no  extended   consequences  dangerous  to  the 
South;  but  their  agitation  has,  in  its  effects  upon 
the  sentiments  and  temper  of  our  people,  produced 
results  which  cannot  be  mistaken.     The  South  is 
alarmed  and  excited.     Throughout  the  whole  of  the 
slave-holding  sections  of  our  country,  there  prevails 
a  conviction  of  great  danger  arising  from  the  agita 
ting  measures  of  the  abolitionists,  and  a  stern  deter 
mination  to  avert  that  danger,  at  whatever  sacrifice. 


308 

In  many  cases,  the  sense  of  undeserved  injury 
has  excited  intense  and  violent  feelings  of  resent 
ment.  Those  feelings  have  been  freely  expressed. 
Can  it  excite  surprise,  or  justify  censure,  that  the 
people  of  the  South,  smarting  under  their  wrongs, 
express  in  terms  of  indignation,  the  sentiments  which 
every  manly  heart  must  cherish?  Or  is  it  expected 
that  the  southron  will  see  his  rights  violated,  and 
the  lives  and  honour  of  his  wife  and  daughters  en 
dangered,  and  feel  no  throb  of  resentment. — or  that, 
feeling  it,  he  will  express  his  sense  of  the  wrong  in 
terms  of  meek  regret  and  honied  endearment?  The 
South  is  wronged — deeply  and  dangerously  wronged: 
she  will  not  submit  to  that  wrong:  and  it  would  be  hy 
pocrisy  as  well  as  weakness,  to  suppress  her  feelings, 
or  conceal  her  determination.  She  must  defend  her 
self,  or  perish.  Those  who  trample  upon  her  have 
no  right  to  complain  that  her  remonstrances  are  not 
made  in  the  whining  and  craven  tones  of  supplication. 
Her  very  existence  is  endangered;  and  when  she 
says  that  she  will  not  allow  her  domestic  institutions 
to  be  insidiously  assailed,  or  her  slaves  tampered 
with,  she  means  it.  Those,  whose  incendiary  mea 
sures  excite  these  feelings  at  the  South,  have  but 
little  reason  to  complain  of  the  fashion  of  her  speech. 

It  has  been  complained,  also,  that  the  citizens  of 
the  South  have  punished  such  incendiaries  as  have 
been  detected  in  exciting  the  slaves  to  mutiny,  in 
an  extra  judicial  manner.  It  is  true  that,  when  mis 
creants  have  been  found  engaged  in  the  fiend-like 
task  of  persuading  the  slaves  to  murder  the  whites, 
they  have  been  tried  before  tribunals  which,  though 
constituted  with  great  care,  and  composed  of  the 
best  citizens,  have  not  been  directly  authorised  bv 
law.  But  who  dares  say  that  such  tribunals  have, 
in  a  single  instance,  exercised  the  powers  conferred 
upon  them  unjustly  or  improperly? 


309 

It  is  somewhat  singular,  that  certain  northern 
presses  should  have  espoused,  with  such  zeal,  the 
cause  of  these  blood-stained  preachers  of  negro  in 
surrection.  It  might  be  thought,  that  the  fate  of 
such  wretches  would  have  excited  but  little  sympa 
thy  with  the  virtuous;  and  that  the  patriot  would 
rather  rejoice,  than  lament,  that  the  knife  which  had 
been  whetted  for  an  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  the 
whites  of  the  South,  had  been  directed,  by  the  hand 
of  justice,  to  the  bosoms  which  gave  birth  to  the 
bloody  scheme. 

The  course  of  the  people  of  Mississippi  in  the 
late  insurrection  was  wise  and  just.  The  danger 
was  of  so  imminent  a  character  as  to  throw  back  the 
people  upon  the  first  law  of  nature,  for  their  protec 
tion.  The  crisis  was  revolutionary,  and  the  remedy, 
adopted  was  necessarily  above  the  law.  Is  it  to  be 
expected  that,  in  such  an  emergency,  the  people 
will  fold  their  arms  and  quietly  wait  for  the  knife 
of  the  negro,  because  the  existing  regulations  do  not 
furnish  adequate  means  of  defence?  The  idea  is  too 
absurd  to  be  entertained  for  a  moment.  But  the 
course  pursued,  in  the  case  referred  to,  was  not  only 
fully  justified  by  extreme  and  imperative  necessity, 
but  also  was  sanctioned  by  the  highest  authority 
known  to  the  state — the  entire  mass  of  the  citizens. 
The  laws  under  which  the  incendiaries  were  appre 
hended  and  executed,  and  the  insurrection  sup 
pressed,  were  dictated  by  supreme  necessity,  and 
were  enacted  by  the  people — not  through  the  regu 
lar  organs — no  time  was  afforded  for  that — but  by 
the  people  themselves,  directly  and  unanimously. 
If  they  did  wrong,  they  are  responsible  to  themselves 
alone.  We  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  It  may  be, 
and  has  been  said,  that  the  precedent  is  dangerous. 
We  think  otherwise.  The  people  always  have,  and 
always  will,  under  like  dangers,  adopt  a  like  course. 


310 

When  the  emergency  requires  it,  the  precedent  is 
safe;  when  it  does  not,  the  precedent  does  not  apply. 

In  the  crisis  which  has  fallen  upon  our  country, 
it  becomes  every  patriot  to  enquire  what  is  to  be 
done?  The  danger  is  general;  and  the  efforts  to 
arrest  the  evil  should  be  equally  so. 

Congress,  in  this  emergency,  should  prove  itself 
worthy  to  guard  the  rights  of  a  free  people.  It 
should  not  only  reject,  with  disdain,  every  petition 
which  the  abolitionists  may  presume  to  send  to  that 
body — it  should  not  only  avoid,  as  fatal,  every  act 
which  may  involve  the  agitation  of  the  subject — but 
it  should  adopt  stern  and  efficient  measures  to  pre 
vent  any  department  of  the  general  government  from 
being  made  an  incendiary  engine  in  the  hands  of  the 
fanatics.  Such  regulations  should  be  at  once  adopt 
ed  as  will  rescue  the  post  office,  from  the  abolition 
ists.  The  patriotic  recommendation  of  the  president 
in  his  late  message  will,  it  is  hoped,  meet  the  con 
currence  and  support  of  all  parties  in  Congress.  We 
are  aware  that  it  objected  that  any  corrective  applied 
to  the  evil  would  subject  the  mail  to  the  abuses  of 
power.  Power,  however  wholesome  and  necessary, 
is  liable  to  abuse;  and  it  would  be  folly  to  hesitate 
in  removing  a  great  and  imminent  danger,  in  the 
apprehension  of  incurring  a  slight  and  remote  one. 
If,  however,  the  general  government  should  fail  to 
make  such  provisions  as  are  obviously  required  to 
check  the  influx  of  incendiary  publications  on  the 
South  through  the  medium  of  the  post  office,  the 
southern  states  may,  and  no  doubt  will,  in  the  exer 
cise  of  their  unquestioned  rights,  adopt  efficient  mea 
sures  to  check  the  evil.  But  even  without  further 
enactments,  either  by  the  general  government  or 
the  states,  the  post  officers,  in  the  performance  of 
their  duties,  should,  and  no  doubt  will,  eject  incen 
diary  matter  from  their  mails.  That  they  are  legally 


311 

justified  in  so  doing,  we  entertain  not  a  doubt;  and, 
certain  it  is,  that  the  intelligence  and  patriotism  of 
the  country  have  fully  sustained  the  course  hereto 
fore  adopted  by  the  post  office  department. 

The  non-slaveholding  states  owe  it  to  the  Union, 
to  the  South,  to  themselves,  and  to  the  cause  of  peace 
and  order,  to  adopt  efficient  measures  to  check  the 
madness  of  the  incendiaries.  The  offenders  are  citi 
zens  of  the  northern  states;  their  dangerous  publica 
tions  are  here  prepared,  and  sent  through  the  South; 
while  they  themselves,  screened  by  our  law,  pro 
ceed  in  their  work  of  treason  in  safety.  It  becomes 
the  duty  of  the  northern  states,  to  pass  such  enact 
ments  as  will  effectually  prevent  their  citizens  from 
endangering  the  peace  of  the  southern  states,  by  ex 
citing  their  slaves  to  insurrection. 

Whenever  such  measures  have  been  suggested, 
the  abolitionists  and  their  apologists  have  raised  a 
clamour  about  the  freedom  of  the  press.  This  is 
one  of  those  empty  and  unmeaning  war  cries, 
\vhich  are  raised  upon  every  occasion.  Such  a 
question  should  be  decided,  not  by  artful  appeals  to 
popular  axioms,  the  emptiest  of  which  reverb  the 
loudest,  but  by  cool  and  manly  argument. 

The  liberty  of  the  press  is  in  no  danger.  Those 
who  recommend  effective  measures  against  the  abo 
litionists,  are  the  most  devoted  friends  of  the  true 
liberty  of  the  press.  The  press  may  be  regulated 
without  being  fettered.  It  is  now  restrained  by 
wholesome  laws;  does  any  one  feel  or  regret  the 
loss  of  so  much  of  its  liberty?  Not  only  the  press, 
but  every  thing,  and  every  body,  are  under  certain 
restraints,  in  all  civilized  communities.  Men  can 
not  speak,  write,  nor  act,  in  such  manner  as  to  en 
danger  the  moral  well-being  of  society,  without 
incurring  the  penalties  of  the  violated  law. 

The  liberty  of  the  press  may  be  abused;  and 


31-2 

these  abuses  should  be  checked.  The  press  that 
would  advocate  open  immorality,  that  would  espouse 
the  cause  of  the  enemy  in  a  dangerous  war,  that 
would  become  the  organ  and  signal  of  the  thieves 
of  our  different  cities,  ought  to  be,  and  would  be 
stopped.  The  press  that  endeavours  to  fill  the 
South  with  insurrection  and  bloodshed,  is  equally 
dangerous;  and  should  also  be  subjected,  by  the 
community  in  which  it  is  issued,  to  the  penalty  of 
such  laws  as  the  evil  requires. 

The  dangers  which  some  affect  to  apprehend  to 
the  liberty  of  the  press,  are  of  the  most  insubstan 
tial  nature.  How  could  such  laws  endanger  the 
real,  useful  freedom  of  the  press?  Does  the  liberty 
of  the  country  depend  upon  the  success  of  the  in 
cendiaries  in  exciting  servile  sedition;  or  is  the 
mad  raving  of  the  fanatics  of  such  peculiar  value, 
that  its  non-continuance  will  involve  the  downfall 
of  the  country?  The  Southern  press  is  now,  and 
long  has  been,  under  the  restraints  which  are  re 
commended  here  for  the  behoof  of  the  abolitionists; 
yet  we  presume,  that  it  will  not  be  pretended  that 
it  is  less  free  and  fearless,  less  able  and  effective 
in  political  discussion,  than  that  of  the  North.  The 
same  measures  would  be  attended  here  with  the 
same  results. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  that  the  South  requires 
from  the  North  more  than  is  necessary  for  her 
tranquillity.  The  right  of  discussion,  the  invaluable 
privilege  of  talking  of  the  concerns  of  others,  may  be 
retained  in  full  force  and  virtue  by  the  abolitionists; 
it  is  only  required,  that  they  should  not  flood  the 
South  with  appeals  calculated  to  endanger  its  tran 
quillity.  Their  own  rights  are  not  assailed;  they 
are  only  asked  to  respect  the  rights  of  others. 

Some  of  the  Northern  presses  say,  and  say  truly, 
that  they  have  "  a  right  to  discuss  what  they  please, 


313 

and  as  they  please."  It  is  not  denied  that,  under 
existing  enactments,  it  would  be  found  difficult  to 
bring  them  to  punishment  for  exciting  insurrection 
among  the  slaves.  But  if  they  have  a  right  to  act 
towards  the  South  as  foes,  has  it  not  occurred  to 
them,  that  the  South  has  a  right  to  regard  them  in 
the  same  light,  and  to  secede  from  a  union  with 
those  who  boast  their  right  to  be  their  worst  ene 
mies?  The  exercise  of  rights  of  so  unfraternal  a 
character,  will  scarcely  advance  the  interests  of  any 
section  of  our  country. 

If  the  Northern  states  were  not  knit  to  the  South 
by  the  bonds  of  one  happy  union,  but  were  foreign 
and  friendly  powers,  they  would  be  forced  by  the 
law  of  nations  to  suppress  the  hostile  movements 
of  the  incendiaries.  Are  they  willing  to  make  the 
union  a  defence  and  justification  of  wrong?  Are 
they  prepared  to  deny  that  to  their  brethren,  which 
they  could  not  withhold  from  strangers? 

The  North  is  pledged  to  observe  the  rights  of 
the  South.  It  is  expected  that  she  will  avoid  an 
infraction  of  those  rights,  not  nominally  and  in  ap 
pearance  alone,  but  really  and  in  fact.  This  cannot 
be  said  to  be  the  case,  when  she  allows  her  citizens 
to  prosecute  a  continued  and  systematic  warfare,  and 
refuses  to  adopt  the  measures  necessary  to  suppress 
them.  While  she  thus  virtually  violates  the  com 
mon  compact — how  can  she  consider  it  binding  on 
others?  How  can  she  expect  the  South  to  remain 
quiescent  under  acts  of  systematic  hostility?  It  is 
of  no  consequence  that  the  blow  which  is  aimed  at 
the  South,  is  to  be  inflicted  by  the  arm  of  a  brother. 
From  whatever  quarter  it  may  come,  it  is  equally 
unfriendly  and  equally  dangerous;  and  the  South 
will  be  constrained  at  least  to  ward  it  off,  whatever 
may  be  the  consequence  of  her  measures  of  de 
fence. 

27 


314 

That  the  policy  of  the  abolitionists  has  produced, 
and  is  producing,  consequences  which  involve  the 
integrity  of  the  Union,  and  the  peace,  and  welfare 
of  the  country,  can  no  longer  be  doubted.  The 
occurrences  and  disclosures  of  the  last  twelve 
months,  cannot  but  awaken,  in  every  honest  bosom, 
the  most  serious  reflections.  The  conscientious 
abolitionists,  if  such  there  be,  will  pause  to  re- 
examine  a  cause  thus  pregnant  with  violence  and 
peril;  while  the  friends  of  Union,  of  freedom,  of 
the  country,  whatever  their  creed  or  party,  whether 
of  the  North  or  the  South,  will  hasten,  by  energetic 
and  effective  measures,  to  prostrate  forever,  the 
treasonable  conspiracy  which  menaces  the  existence 
of  our  country,  and  the  peace  and  safety  of  our 
people. 


FINIS. 


r>pcv  * 


j§|JSHffi5S»5s? 

HOME  USE 


NO.  DD6 


£.77..? 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


1 


CKK: 


K 


